


1 



« LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 3 

r 



4 



$ 



Chap 

Shelf ;^c^ I 

: r^S-^^^ — i 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, i^ 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH; 

OR, 

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE ETERNAL 
MAXIMS. 

USEFUL FOR ALL AS A BOOK OF MEDITATIONS, ETC. 

BY ST. ALPHONSUS M. LIGUORI, 

BISHOP or ST. AGATHA OF THE GOTHS, AND FOUNDER OF THE COK* 
GREGATION OF THE MOST HOLY REDEEMER. 

TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN, 

BY A CATHOLIC CLERGYMAN. 

APPROVED BY THE 
RIGHT REVEREND BISHOP FITZPATRICK. 




EIGHTH EDITION. 

BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY THOMAS SWEENEY. 



1854. 

9^ 



APPROBATION. 



We give our approbation to the publication of this vol- 
ume of Meditations, entitled "Preparation for Death/ 
The illustrious sanctity of the author, and his canoniza- 
tion by the Holy Catholic Church, are a sufficient evidence 
of the purity and excellence of the doctrine which they 
contain. 

We recommend to the faithful at large the use of this 
volume, as most profitable for their spiritual advantage. 

^ JOHN BERNARD, 

Bishop of Boston, 



PROTESTATION OF ST. LIGUORI. 

In obedience to the decrees of Urban VHL, I protest 
that, of the miraculous works and gifts ascribed, in this 
work, to certain servants of God, and not already approved 
by the Holy See, I claim no other belief tlian that which 
is ordinarily given to history resting on mere human au- 
thority ; and that, in bestowing the title of Saint, or of 
Blessed, on any person not canonized or beatified by the 
church, 1 only intend to do it according to the usage and 
opinion of men. 



TO THE IMMACULATE 

AND 

EVER-VIRGIN MARY: 

TO HER WHO IS FULL OF GRACE, AND BLESSED AMONG ALL 

THE CHILDREN OF ADAM: 

TO THE DOVE, THE TURTLE, THE BELOVED OF GOD: 

HONOR OF THE HUMAN RACE, DELIGHT OF THE MOST 

HOLY TRINITY: 

HOUSE OF LOVE, EXAMPLE OF HUMILITY, 

MIRROR OF ALL VIRTUES : 

MOTHER OF FAIR LOVE, MOTHER OF HOLY HOPE, • 

AND MOTHER OF MERCY: 

ADVOCATE OF THE MISERABLE, DEFENCE OF THE "WEAK, 

LIGHT OF THE BLIND, PHYSICIAN OF THE SICK; 

GATE OF HEAVEN: 

ANCHOR OF CONFIDENCE, CITY OF REFUGE, 

ARK OF LIFE, RAINBOW OF PEACE, HAVEN OF SALVATION: 

STAR OF THE SEA, AND SEA OF SWEETNESS: 

ADVOCATE OF SINNERS, HOPE OF THOSE WHO ARE IN 

DESPAIR, HELP OF THE ABANDONED : 

COMFORTER OF THE AFFLICTED, CONSOLATION OF THE DYING, 

AND JOY OF THE WORLD: 

HER AFFECTIONATE AND LOVING, THOUGH TILE AND 

UNWORTHY, SERVANT 

HUMBLY DEDICATES THIS WORK. 



CONTENTS. 



PAOK. 

Object of ths Work, 5 

Consideration, 

I. Picture of a Man who is but a short Time gone to Eternity, 9 

ir. With Death all ends, 18 

III. Shortness of Life, 26 

IV. Certainty of Death 34 

V. Uncertainty of the Hour of Death, 42 

VI. Death of the Sinner, 51 

VII. Sentiments of a Dying Christian, 61 

VIII. Death of the Just, 71 

IX. Souls of the Just are in the Hands of God, 82 

X. Means of Preparing for Death, 92 

XI. Value of Time, 101 

XII. Importance of Salvation, 110 

XIII. Vanity of the World , 120 

XIV. The Present Life is a Journey to Eternity, 129 

XV. Malice of Mortal Sin, 138 

XVL Mercy of God, 148 

XVIL Abuse of Divine Mercy, 156 

XVin. Number of Sins, 167 

XIX. The Great Advantages of the Grace of God j and the 

Great Evil of being in Enmity with God, 178 

XX. Folly of Sinners, 186 

XXI. Unhappy Life of the Sinner ; and Happy Life of the 

Christian who loves God, 196 

XXn. Evil Habits, 206 

XXIII. The Delusions which the Devil suggests to Sinners, 217 

XXIV. Particular Judgment, .' 226 

XX V. General Jud gment, 236 

XXVL Pains ofHell, 247 

XXVIL Eternity of Hell, 258 

XXVIIL Remorse of the Damned, 269 

XXIX. On Heaven, 276 

XXX. OnPrayer, 288 

XXXL On Perseverance, 298 

XXXII. On Confidence in the Patronage of the Most Holy Mary,. 312 

XXXIIL On the Love of God , 323 

XXXIV. On the Holy Communion, 333 

XXXV. On the Loving Dwelling of Jesus Christ on the Altars of 

the Most Holy Sacrament, 346 

XXXVL On Conformity to the Will of God, 357 

Protestation of Death, * 336 

Preparation for Death, 371 

A Christian in his Last Agony addressing Jesus on the Cross, 374 

Acts to be made at Death, • 376 

Sighs after the Land of Bliss, 379 

On the Science of the Saints, 382 

MoTifEs AND Affections to be suggested to the Dyinq, 386 



OBJECT OP THE WORK. 



NECESSARY TO BE READ. 



Some persons asked me to write a book on 
tae eternal maxims, for the use of those who 
desire to estabhsh themselves in virtue and to 
advance in a spiritual life. Others requested 
me to prepare a collection of matter for the 
sermons of the missions and of the spiritual 
exercises. Not to multiply books, labor, and 
expense, I resolved to compose the work in its 
present form, with the hope that it may an- 
swer both purposes. To render it useful as a 
book of meditations for seculars, I have divid- 
ed the considerations into three points. Each 
point will serve for one meditation, and there- 
fore I have annexed to each point affections 
and prayers. I entreat my readers not to grow 
weary, if in those prayers they shall always 
find petitions for the graces of perseverance 
and of divine love. For us, these are the two 
1* 



6 OBJECT OF THE WORK. 

graces most necessary for the attainment of 
eternal salvation. The grace of divine love 
is, according to St. Francis de Sales, the grace 
which contains in itself all graces ; because 
the virtue of charity towards God brings with 
it all other virtues. ^^ Now all good things 
came to 7ne together with her.^^ — Wis. vii. 
11. He who loves God is humble, chaste, 
obedient, and mortified ; in a word, he pos- 
sesses all virtues. ^'Z/02;e," says St. Augus- 
tine, ^^and do what you tvish.^^ They who 
love God labor to avoid whatever is offensive 
to him, and seek to please him in all things. 

The grace of perseverance is that grace by 
which we obtain the eternal crown. St. Ber- 
nard says, that paradise is promised to those 
who begin a good life, but is given only to 
those who persevere. ^' To beginners a re- 
ward is promised^ hut to him who perseveres 
it is given.'^ Serm, vi. de Modo Ben, Viv 
But this gift of perseverance is, as the fathers 
teach, given only to those who ask it. Hence 
St. Thomas asserts, that, to enter heaven, 
continual prayer is necessary. '' Post baptis- 
mum autem necessaria est homini jugis oratio, 
ad hoc quod coelum introeat." — 3j9., q. 39, 
a?^ 5. And our Redeemer has said, that '^ we 



OBJECT OF THE WORK. 7 

ought always to pray, and not to faint." — 
Luke xviii. 1. It is because they do not pray 
for the gift of perseverance, that so many 
miserable sinners, after having obtained par- 
don, lose again the grace of God. Their sins 
are forgiven ; but because they afterwards neg- 
lect to ask of God the grace of perseverance, 
particularly in the time of temptations, they 
relapse into sin. And although the grace of 
final perseverance is altogether gratuitous, and 
cannot be merited by good works, still Suares 
teaches that it can be infallibly obtained by 
prayer ; and, according to St. Augustine, it may 
be merited by humble supplication. '' Hoc 
Dei donum suppliciter emereri potest, id est 
supplicando impetrari potest.'' — De Dono 
Per S.J cap. vi. This necessity of prayer I 
have demonstrated at length in another little 
work, entitled The Great Aleans of Prayer, 
This book, though small, cost me a great deal 
of labor. I consider it to be of extreme util- 
ity to all sorts of persons ; and I unhesitating- 
ly assert that, among all spiritual treatises, there 
is none, and there can be none, more necessary 
than that which treats on prayer as a means of 
obtaining eternal salvation. 

To render them useful to preachers who 



8 OBJECT OF THE WORK. 

have but few books or little time for readings 
I have furnished these considerations, with 
texts of Scripture and passages from the fa- 
thers, which are short, but strong and animat- 
ed, as they ought to be in sermons. The three 
points of each consideration will supply mat- 
ter for one sermon. I have endeavored to 
collect from many authors the sentiments 
which appeared to me best calculated to move 
the will, and have inserted several of them, 
expressed briefly, that the reader may select 
and extend at pleasure those that please him 
most. May all tend to the glory of God. 

I pray my reader to recommend me to Jesus 
Christ, whether I am living or dead; and I 
promise to do the same for all those who shall 
perform this act of charity towards me. lave, 
Jesus, our love, and Mary, our hope. 



ST ALPHONSUS M. LIGUORFS 

PREPARATION rOR DEATH. 



FIRST CONSIDERATION. 

PICTURE OF A MAN WHO IS BUT A SHORT 
TIME GONE TO ETERNITY. 

"Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.** — 
Gen. iii. 19. 

FIRST POINT. 

Consider that thou art dust, and that thou shalt 
return to dust. A day will come when thou shalt 
die, and rot in a grave, where ** worms shall be 
thy covering.^' — Isaias xiv. 11. The same lot 
awaits all, the grandee and the peasant, the prince 
and the vassal. The moment the soul leaves the 
body, she shall go to her eternity, and the body 
shall return to dust. " Thou shalt send forth their 
breath, and they shall fail, and shall return to their 
dust." — Ps. ciii. 29. 

Imagine that thou beholdest a person who has 
just expired. Look at that body, still laid on the 
bed, the head fallen on the chest, the hair in disor- 
der, and still bathed in the sweat of death, the eyes 
sunk, the cheeks hollow, the face the color of 
ashes, the lips and tongue like iron, the body cold 



10 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

and heavy. The beholders grow pale and tremble 
How many, at the sight of a deceased relative or 
friend, have changed their lives and retired from 
the world ! 

Still greater horror shall be excited when the 
body begins to putrefy. Twenty-four hours have 
not elapsed since the death of that young man, and 
his body has already begun to exhale an offensive 
smell. The windows must be opened ; a great quan- 
tity of incense must be used ; and, to prevent the 
communication of disease to the entire family, he 
must be soon transferred to the church, and buried 
under the earth. If he has been one of the rich or 
nobles of the earth, his body shall send forth a more 
intolerable stench. " Gravius foetent," says a certain 
author, **divitum corpora." 

Behold the end of that proud, of that lewd and 
voluptuous man. Before death, desired and sought 
after in conversations ; now, become an object of hor- 
ror and disgust to all who behold him. His relatives 
are in haste to remove him from the house; they hire 
men to shut him up in a coffin, to carry him to the 
churchyard, and throw him into a grave. During 
life, the fame of his wit, of his politeness, of the ele- 
gance of his manners, and of his facetiousness, flew 
in every direction ; but after death, he is soon for- 
gotten. ''Their memory hath perished with a 
noise." — Ps. ix. 7. 

On hearing the news of his death, some say, '' He 
was an honor to his family." others say, ''He has 
provided w^ell for his children." Some regret his 
death because he had done them some services dur- 
ing life : others rejoice at it because it is an advan- 
tage to them. But in a little time no one shall 
speak of him. In the beginning, his nearest rela- 
tives feel unwilling to hear his name, through fear 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. II 

of renewing their grief. In the visits of condo- 
lence, all are careful to make no allusion to the 
deceased ; and should any one happen to speak of 
him, the relatives exclaim, "For God's sake, do not 
mention his name." 

Consider that, as thou hast acted on the occasion 
of the death of friends and relatives, so others shall 
act on the occasion of thy death. The living take 
part in the scene. They occupy the possessions an^ 
offices of the deceased ; but the dead are no longer 
remembered — their name is scarcely ever men- 
tioned. In the beginning, their relatives will be 
afflicted for a short time; but they shall soon be 
consoled by the portion of the property of the de- 
ceased which will fall to them. 

Thus in a short time thy death shall be rather a 
source of joy; and in the very room in which thou 
shalt have breathed forth thy soul, and in which thou 
shalt be judged by Jesus Christ, others will dance, 
and eat, and play, and laugh, as before. And where 
shall thy soul then be? 

Affections and Prayers. 
O Jesus, my Redeemer, I thank thee for not 
having taken me out of life when I was thy enemy. 
For how many years have I deserved to be in hell ! 
Had I died on such a day or such a night, what 
should be my lot for all eternity? Lord, I thank 
thee : I accept my death in satisfaction for my sins, 
and I accept it in the manner in which thou wilt be 
pleased to send it. But since thou hast borne with 
me till now, wait for me a little longer. '' Suffer 
me, therefore, that I may lament my sorrow a little." 
— Job X. 20. Give me time to bewail, before thou 
dost judge me, the offences I have offered to thee. 
I will no longer resist thy calls. Who knows but 



12 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

the words which I have just read may be the last 
call for me ? I acknowledge that I am unworthy of 
mercy. Thou hast so often pardoned me, and I 
have ungratefully offended thee again. ** A con- 
trite and humble heart, O Lord, thou wilt not de- 
spise." — Ps. 1. 19. Since, O Lord, thou knowest 
not how to despise an humbled and contrite heart, 
behold the penitent traitor who has recourse to thee. 
** Cast me not away from thy face." — Ps. 1. 13. 
For thy mercy's sake, cast me not away from thy 
face. Thou hast said, ** Him that cometh to me I 
w^ill not cast out." — John vi. 37. It is true that I 
have outraged thee more than others, because I have 
been favored more than others with thy lights and 
graces. But the blood thou hast shed for me en- 
courages me, and offers me pardon if I repent. My 
Sovereign Good, I am sorry with my whole soul for 
having insulted thee. Pardon me, and give me 
grace to love thee for the future. I have offended 
thee sufficiently. The remainder of my life I wish 
to spend, not in offending thee, but only in weep- 
ing unceasingly over the insults I have offered to 
thee, and in loving with my whole heart a God 
worthy of infinite love. O Mary, my hope, pray to 
Jesus for me. 

SECOND POINT. 

But, Christian soul, that thou mayst see more 
clearly what thou art, follow the advice of St. Chrys* 
ostom : *' Go to the grave ; contemplate dust, ashes, 
worms ; and sigh." Behold how that corpse first 
turns yellow, and then black. Afterwards, the entire 
body is covered with a white, disgusting mould; 
then comes forth a clammy, fetid slime, which flows 
to the earth. In that putrid mass is generated a 
great crowd of worms, which feed on the flesh. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 13 

Rats come to feast on the body ; some attack it on 
the outside; others enter into the mouth and bow- 
els. The cheeks, the lips, and the hair, fall off. 
The ribs are first laid bare, and then the arms and 
legs. The worms, after having consumed all the 
flesh, devour each other ; and in the end, nothing 
remains but a fetid skeleton, which in the course of 
time falls in pieces; the bones separate from each 
other, and the head separates from the body. *' They 
became like the chaff of a summer's threshing-floor, 
and they were carried away by the wind.'' — Dan. 
ii. 35. Behold what man is ; he is a little dust on the 
threshing-floor, which is blown away by the wind. 

Behold a young nobleman, who was called the life 
and soul of conversation : where is he now ? En- 
ter into his apartment : he is no longer there. If 
thou look for his bed, his robes, or his armor, thou 
shalt find that they have passed into the hands of 
others. If thou wish to see himself, turn to the 
grave, where he is changed into corruption and 
withered bones. O God ! that body, pampered with 
so many delicacies, clothed with so much pomp, and 
attended by so many servants, — to what is it now re- 
duced? O saints, who knew how to mortify your 
bodies for the love of that God whom alone you 
loved on this earth, you well understood the end of 
all human greatness, of all earthly delights; now 
your bones are honored as sacred relics, and pre- 
served in shrines of gold, and your souls are happy 
in the enjoyment of God, expecting the last day, on 
which your bodies shall be made partners of your 
glory, as they have* been partakers of your cross in 
this life. The true love for the body consists in 
treating it here with rigor and contempt, that it may 
be happy for eternity, and in refusing it all pleas- 
ures which should make it miserable forever. 
2 



14 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



Affections and Prayers. 

Behold, then, my God, to what my body, by which 
I have so much offended thee, must be reduced ! — 
to worms and rottenness. This does not afflict me. 
On the contrary, I rejoice that this flesh of mine, 
which has made me lose thee, my Sovereign Good, 
shall one day rot and be consumed. What grieves 
me is, that, to indulge in these wretched pleasures, 
I have given so much displeasure to thee. But I 
will not despair of thy mercy. Thou hast waited 
for me in order to pardon me. *' The Lord waiteth, 
that he may have mercy on you.'' — Isaias xxx. 18. 
Thou wilt forgive me if I repent. O Infinite Good- 
ness, I repent with my whole heart of having de- 
spised thee. I will say with St. Catharine of Genoa, 
** My Jesus, no more sins I no more sins .' " I will 
no longer abuse thy patience. O my crucified love, 
I will not wait till the confessor shall place the cru- 
cifix in my hands at the hour of death. From this 
moment I embrace thee ; from this moment I rec- 
ommend my soul to thee. ^* Into thy hands, O Lord, 
I commend my spirit.'' My soul has been so many 
years in the world, and has not loved thee ! Give 
me light and strength to love thee during the re- 
mainder of my life. I will not wait to love thee at 
the hour of death. From this moment I love thee; 
I embrace thee, and unite myself to thee ; and I 
promise never more to depart from thee. O most 
holy Virgin, bind me to Jesus Christ, and obtain for 
me the grace never to lose him more. 

THIRD POINT. 

My brother, in this picture of death behold thy- 
self, and what thou must one day become. Re- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 15 

member that ^* dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt 
return.'' Consider that in a few years, and perhaps 
in a few months or days, thou shalt become rotten- 
ness and worms. By this thought Job became a 
saint. ^' I have said to rottenness. Thou art my 
father ; to worms, my mother and my sister." — Job 
xvii. 14. 

All must end ; and if, after death, thou shalt lose 
thy soul, all shall be lost for thee. Consider thy- 
self already dead, says St. Lawrence Justinian, since 
thou knowest that thou shalt of necessity die. 
** Considera te jam mortuum, quem scis de necessi- 
tate moriturum." — De Ligno VitcB^cap. iv. If 
thou wert already dead, what wouldst thou not de- 
sire to have done ? Now that thou hast life, reflect 
that thou shalt be one day among the dead. St. 
Bonaventure says, that, to guide the vessel safely, 
the pilot must remain at the helm ; and in like man- 
ner, to lead a good life, a man should always ima- 
gine himself at the hour of death. "Vide prima/' 
says St. Bernard, " et erubesce." Look to the sins 
of thy youth, and be covered with shame. '^ Vide 
media, et ingemisce." Remember the sins of man- 
hood, and weep. " Vide novissima, et contremisce." 
Look to the present disorders of thy life ; tremble, 
and hasten to apply a remedy. 

When St. Camillus de Lellis saw the graves of 
the dead, he said within himself, "If these returned 
to life, what would they not do for eternal glory? 
And what do I, who have time, do for my soul?" 
This the saint said through humility. But, my 
brother, thou, perhaps, hast just reason to fear that 
thou art the fruitless fig-tree of which the Lord said, 
" Behold, for these three years I come seeking fruii 
on this fig-tree, and I find none." — Luke xiii. 7 
Thou art in. this world more than three years ; whal 



16 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

fruit hast thou produced? Remember, says St 
Bernard, that the Lord seeks not only flowers, but 
fruits; that is, not only good desires and resolu- 
tions, but also holy works. Learn, then, to profit 
of the time which God in his mercy gives thee : do 
not wait until thou desirest time to do good, when 
time shall be no more. Do not wait till thou shalt 
be told, *^ Tempus non erit amplius : prqficiscereJ^ 
Time shall be no longer : depart ; the time for 
leaving this world has arrived : what is done, is 
done. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Behold me, O my God ; I am that tree which 
deserved for so many years to hear from thee, 
" Cut it down — why cumbereth it the ground?" 
— Luke xiii. 7. Yes; for so many years which I 
have been in the world, I have brought forth no other 
fruit than the briers and thorns of sin. But, O Lord, 
thou dost not wish that I despair. Thou hast said to 
all, that he who seeks thee shall find thee. '^ Seek, 
and thou shalt find." I seek thee, O my God, and 
wish for thy grace. For all the offences I have oflTered 
to thee, I am sorry with my whole heart ; I would 
wish to die of sorrow for them. Hitherto I have 
fled from thee ; but now I prefer thy friendship to 
the possession of all the kingdoms of the earth. I 
will no longer resist thy invitations. Dost thou 
wish me to be all thine? I give thee my whole 
being without reserve. Thou gavest thyself entire- 
ly to me on the cross. I give myself entirely to 
thee. 

Thou hast said, " If thou shalt ask me any thing 
in my name, that I will do." — John xiv. 14. My 
Jesus, trusting in this great promise, I ask, in thy 



PREPARATION FOR DEaTH. 17 

name and through thy merits, thy grace and thy 
love. Grant that thy grace and thy holy love may 
abound in my soul, in which sin has abounded. I 
thank thee for having given me grace to make this 
petition : by inspiring the prayer, thou showest that 
thou dost intend to hear it. Hear me, O my Jesus : 
give me a great love for thee ; give me a great de- 
sire to please thee, and give me strength to do thy 
w^ill. O Mary, my great advocate, do thou also listen 
to my cry, and pray to Jesus for me. 



SECOND CONSIDERATION. 

WITH DEATH ALL ENDS. 

"An end is come; the end is come." — Ezec. vii. 6. 

FIRST POINT. 

By worldlings, they only are esteemed happy, 
who enjoy the pleasures, the riches, and pomps of 
this world ; but death puts an end to all these 
earthly goods. *' For what is your life? It is a 
vapor which appeareth for a little while." — St. 
James iv. 15. The vapors exhaled from the earth, 
when raised in the air and clothed with light by 
the sun, make a splendid appearance ; but how 
long does their splendor last ? It vanishes before 
the first blast of the wind. Behold that grandee ! 
to-day he is courted, feared, and almost adored; 
to-morrow he is dead, despised, reviled, and tram- 
pled on. At death we must leave all things. The 
brother of that great servant of God, Thomas a 
Kempis, took complacency in speaking of a beauti- 
2* 



18 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

ful house which he had built for himself: a friend 
told him that it had one great defect. '* What is it? " 
said he. *'It is/' replied the other, *^that you have 
made a door in it.'' ** What ! " rejoined the broth- 
er of a Kempis, '*is a door a defect ?" ^' Yes," an- 
swered the friend; ** for through this door you must 
be one day carried dead, and must leave the house 
and all things." 

Death, in fine, strips man of all the goods of this 
world. O, what a spectacle to behold a prince 
banished from his palace, never more to return to 
it, and to see others take possession of his furniture, 
of his money, and of all his other goods ! The ser- 
vants leave him in the grave, v/ith a garment 
scarcely sufficient to cover his body. There is no 
longer any one to esteem or flatter him, no longer 
any one to attend to his commands. Saladin, who 
had acquired many kingdoms in Asia, gave direc- 
tions, at death, that, when his body should be car- 
ried to the place of burial, a person should go before, 
holding his winding-sheet suspended from a pole, 
and crying aloud, " This is all that Saladin brings 
with him to the grave J^ 

When the body of the prince is laid in the tomb, 
his flesh falls in pieces ; and behold, his skeleton 
can be no longer distinguished from that of others. 
" Contemplare sepulchra," says St. Basil, '* vide 
utrum poteris discernere quis servus, quis dominus 
fuerit." Contemplate the sepulchres of the dead, 
and see if you can distinguish who has been a ser- 
vant, and who has been master. Diogenes ap- 
peared one day, in the presence of Alexander the 
Great, to seek with great anxiety for something 
among the bones of the dead. Alexander asked 
him what he was in search of *'I am looking," re- 
plied Diogenes, ** for the head of Philip, your father 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 19 

I am not able to distinguish it : if you can find it, 
show it to me." '' Si tu potes, ostende." Men 
are born unequal ; but, after death, all are equal, 
" Impares nascimur," said Seneca, *' pares mori- 
mur." And Horace says that death brings down 
the sceptre to the level of the mattock. '^ Sceptra 
ligonibus asquat." In a word, when death comes, 
the end comes, all ends ; we leave all things ; and 
of all that we possess in this w^orld, w^e bring noth- 
m^ to the orrave. 

Affections and Prayers. 

My Lord, since thou givestme light to know that 
whatever the world esteems is smoke and folly, 
grant me strength to detach m.y heart from earthly 
goods, before death separates me from them. Mis- 
erable that I have been ! How often, for the miser- 
able pleasures and goods of this earth, have I offend- 
ed and lost thee, who art an infinite good ! O my 
Jesus, my heavenly Physician, cast thy eyes on my 
poor soul, look at the many wounds which I have 
inflicted on it by my sins, and have pity on me. If 
thou wishest, thou canst make me clean. '* Si vis, 
potes me mundare." I know that thou art able 
and willing to heal me; but, in order to heal me, 
thou dost wish me to repent of the injuries which 
I«have committed against thee. I am sorry for 
them from the bottom of my heart. Heal me, then, 
now that it is in thy power to heal me. *' Heal my 
soul, for I have sinned against thee." — Ps. xl. 5. 
I have forgotten thee ; but thou hast not forgotten 
me; and now thou makest me feel that thou wilt 
even forget the injuries I have done thee, if I de- 
test them. '* But if the wicked do penance I 

will not remember all his iniquities." — Ezec. xviii. 
21. Behold, I detest my sins, I hate them above 



20 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

all things. Forget, then, O my Redeemer, all the 
displeasure I have given thee. For the future, I 
will lose all things, even life, rather than forfeit thy 
grace. And what can all the goods of this earth 
profit me without thy grace ? 

Ah, assist me; thou knowestmy weakness. Hell 
will not cease to tempt me : it already prepares a 
thousand attacks to make me again its slave. No, 
my Jesus, do not abandon me. I wish to be hence- 
forth the slave of thy love. Thou art my only 
Lord : thou hast created and redeemed me ; thou 
hast loved me more than all others ; thou alone hast 
merited my love ; thee alone do I wish to love. 

SECOND POINT. 

At the hour of death, Philip the Second, king of 
Spain, called his son, and, throwing off his royal 
robe, uncovered his breast, which was eaten away 
by worms, and said to him, *' Prince, behold how 
we die ! see how all the grandeurs of this world 
end ! '' Theodoret has truly said, that death fears 
neither riches, nor satellites, nor sovereigns ; and 
that from princes, as well as from vassals, rottenness 
and corruption flow. ** Nee divitias mors metuit, 
nee satellites, nee purpuram ; putredo sequitur, et 
sanies defluit.'' Thus the dead, though they be 
princes, bring nothing with them to the grave ; ^1 
their glory remains on the bed on which they ex- 
pire. ** When he shall die, he shall take nothing 
away, nor shall his glory descend with him.'' — Ps. 
xlviii. 18. 

St. Antonine relates, that, after the death of Al- 
exander the Great, a certain philosopher exclaimed, 
" Behold, the man who yesterday trampled on the 
earth, is now buried under the earth. Yesterday, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 21 

the whole earth was not sufficient for him, and now 
he is content with seven palms. Yesterday, he led 
his armies through the earth, and now he is carried 
by a few porters to the grave." But it is better to 
listen to the words of God. " Why,'' says the Holy 
Ghost, *' is earth and ashes proud V — Eccles. x. 
9. O man, do you not see that you are dust and 
ashes ? Why are you proud ? Why do you spend 
so many thoughts and so many years of life in seek- 
ing worldly greatness ? Death shall come, and then 
all your greatness and all your projects shall be at 
an end. '' In that day,'' says David, " all their 
thoughts shall perish." — Ps. cxlv. 4. 

O, how much more happy was the death of St. 
Paul the Hermit, who lived sixty years shut up in a 
cave, than the death of Nero, the emperor of Rome ! 
How much more happy was the death of St. Felix, 
a Capuchin lay brother, than that of Henry the 
Eighth, who lived in the midst of royal magnifi- 
cence, but, at the same time, in enmity with God ! 
But we must remember that, to secure a hap- 
py death, the saints have abandoned all things ; 
they have left their country ; they have renounced 
the delights and the hopes which the world held 
out to them, and have embraced a life of poverty 
and contempt. But how can worldlings, living in 
ttie midst of sins, in the midst of earthly pleasures 
and dangerous occasions, expect a happy death? 
God warns sinners that at death they shall seek and 
shall not find him. — John 7. 34. He tells us that 
the hour of death shall be the time, not of mercy, but 
of vengeance. — Deut. xxxii. 35. ** I will repay them 
in due time." Reason tells us the same ; for, at death, 
men of the world shall find their understanding weak 
and darkened, and their heart hardened by the bad 
habits which they had contracted. Their temptations 



22 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

shall be then more violent ; how can they resist at 
death, who were almost always accustomed to yield 
to, and to be conquered by, temptations during life? 
To change their hearts, a most powerful grace would 
be then necessary. But is God obliged to give them 
such a grace? Have they merited such a grace by 
the scandalous and disorderly lives which they led? 
And on that last hour depends their happiness or 
misery for eternity. How is it possible that he who 
reflects on this, and believes the truths of faith, 
does not leave all things to give himself to God, who 
shall judge us all according to our works ? 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah, Lord ! how many nights have I slept in enmi- 
ty with thee ! O God ! in what a miserable state 
was my soul during that time ! It was hated by 
thee, and wished to be hated by thee. I was con- 
demned to hell ; there was nothing wanting but the 
execution of the sentence. But thou, my God, hast 
never ceased to seek after me and to invite me to par- 
don. But who can assure me that thou hast pardoned 
me ? Must I, O my Jesus, live in this uncertainty 
till thou dost judge me ? But the sorrow which I 
feel for having offended thee, my desire to love thee, 
and still more, thy passion, O my beloved Redeem- 
er, make me hope that thy grace dwells in my soul. 
I am sorry for having offended thee, O Sovereign 
Good, and I love thee above all things. I resolve 
to forfeit every thing rather than lose thy grace and 
thy love. Thou dost wish that the heart which 
seeks thee should be full of joy. ** Let the heart 
of them rejoice that seek the Lord." — 1 Par. xvi. 
10. Lord, I detest all the injuries I have offered to 
thee. Give me courage and confidence ; do not 
upbraid me with my ingratitude ; for I myself know 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 23 

and detest it. Thou hast said that thou wiliest not 
the death of a sinner, but that he be converted and 
live. — Ezec. iii. 11. Yes, my God, I leave all 
things and turn to thee. I seek thee, I desire thee, 
I love thee above all things. Give me thy love ; I 
ask nothing else. O Mary, thou, after Jesus, art 
my hope ; obtain for me holy perseverance. 

THIRD POINT. 

David calls the happiness of this life a dream of 
one who awakes from a sleep. — Ps. Ixxii. 20. In 
explaining these words, a certain author says, 
** Somnium, quia sopitis sensibus res magnae appa- 
rent, et non sunt, et cito avolant." The goods of 
this world appear great, but they are nothing ; like 
a dream, which lasts but a little, and afterwards van* 
ishes, they are enjoyed but a short time. The 
thought that with death all ends, made St. Francis 
Borgia resolve to give himself entirely to God. 
The saint was obliged to accompany the dead body 
of the empress Isabella to Granada. When the 
coffin was opened, her appearance was so horrible, 
and the smell so intolerable, that all ran away. But 
St. Francis remained to contemplate, in the dead 
body of his sovereign, the vanity of the world ; and, 
looking at it, he exclaimed, " Are you, then, my em- 
press ? Are you the queen before whom so many 
bent their knee in reverential awe? O Isabella, 
where is your majesty, your beauty gone? Thus, 
then,'' he said within himself, ^' end the greatness 
and the crowns of this world. I will, therefore, 
henceforth serve a Master who can never die." From 
that moment he consecrated himself to the love of 
Jesus crucified ; and he made a vow to become a 
religious, should his wife die before him. This vow 



24 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

he afterwards fulfilled by entering into the Society 
of Jesus. 

Justly, then, has a person who was undeceived, 
written on the head of a dead man these words — 
'* Cogitanti vilescunt omnia.^^ To him who reflects 
on death, every thing in this w^orld appears con- 
temptible ; he cannot love the earth. And why are 
there so many unhappy lovers of this world? It is 
because they do not think of death. *^ O ye sons 
of men, how long will you be dull of heart ? Why 
do you love vanity _, and seek after lying?" — Ps. iv. 
3. ^' Miserable children of Adam," says the Holy 
Ghost, " why do you not chase away from your hearts 
so many earthly affections, which make you love 
vanity and lies ? " What has happened to your 
forefathers, must befall you. They have dwelt in 
the same palace which you inhabit, and have slept 
in your very bed ; but now they are no more. 
Such, too, shall be your lot. 

My brother, give yourself, then, to God before 
death comes upon you. *^ Whatsoever thy hand is 
able to do, do it earnestly." — Eccl. ix. 10. What 
you can do to-day, defer not till to-morrow ; for a 
day once past never returns, and to-morrow death 
may come, and prevent you from ever more being 
able to do good. Detach yourself instantly from 
every thing which removes, or can remove, you from 
God. Let us instantly renounce in affection the 
goods of this earth, before death strips us of them 
by force. '' Blessed are the dead who die in the 
Lord." — Apoc. xiv. 13. Happy they \\\\o at death 
are already dead to all attachment to this w^orld. 
They fear not, but desire death, and embrace it 
with joy ; for, instead of separating them from the 
good which they love, it unites them with the Su- 
preme Good, who is the sole object of their affec- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 25 

tions, and who will render them happy for eter- 
nity. 

Affections and Prayers. 

My dear Redeemer, I thank thee for having 
waited for me. What should have become of me, 
had I died when I was at a distance from thee? 
May thy mercy and patience, which I have experi- 
enced for so many years, be forevef blessed. I 
thank thee for the light and grace with which thou 
dost now assist me. I did not then love thee, and I 
cared but little to be loved by thee. I now love 
thee with my whole heart, and nothing grieves me 
so much as the thought of having displeased so 
good a God. This sorrow tortures my soul ; but it 
is a sweet torment, because it gives me confidence 
that thou hast already pardoned me. O, my sweet 
Savior, that I had died a thousand times, before I 
sinned against thee ! I tremble lest I should here- 
after offend thee again. Ah ! make me die the 
most painful of all deaths, rather than permit me 
ever more to lose thy grace. I have been once the 
slave of hell ; but now I am thy servant, O God of 
my soul. Thou hast said that thou lovest those 
who love thee. — Prov. viii. 17. I love thee : then 
I am thine, and thou art mine. I may lose thee at 
some future time. But the grace which I ask of 
thee is, to take rpe out of life rather than suffer me 
ever to lose thee again. Unasked, thou hast bestowed 
upon me so many graces, I cannot now fear that 
thou wilt not hear my prayer for the grace which I 
now implore. Do not permit me ever to lose thee. 
Give me thy love, and I desire nothing more. 
Mary, my hope, intercede for me. 
3 



26 PREPAllATION FOR DEATH. 



THIRD CONSIDERATION. 



SHORTNESS OF LIFE. 

**What is your life? It is a vapor which appeareth for a 
little while." — St. James iv. 15. 



, FIRST POINT. 

What is your life ? It is like a vapor, which is 
dissipated by a blast of wind, and is seen no more. 
All know that they must die; but the delusion of 
many is, that they imagine death as far off as if it 
were never to arrive. But Job tells us that the life 
of man is short. ** Man born of a woman, living 
for a short time, — who cometh forth like a flower, 
and is destroyed." — Job xiv. 1, 2. This truth the 
Lord commanded Isaias to preach to the people. 
** Cry, All flesh is grass. Indeed, the people is 
grass. The grass is withered, and the flower is 
fallen." — Isa. xl. 6, etc. The life of man is like 
the life of a blade of grass ; death comes, the grass 
is dried up : behold, life ends, and the flower of all 
greatness and of all worldly goods falls ofl* 

'' My days," said Job, "have been swifter than a 
post." — Job ix. 25. Death runs to meet us more 
swiftly than a post, and we at every moment run to 
death. Every step, every breath brings us nearer 
to our end. " What I write," says Jerome, " is 
taken away from my life." During the time I 
write, I draw near to death. " We all die, and, 
like the waters that return no more, we fall into the 
earth." — 2 Kings xiv. 14. Behold how the stream 
flows to the sea, and the passing waters never re- 
turn. Thus, my brother, your days pass by, and 
you approach to death. Pleasures, amusements, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 27 

pomps, praises, and acclamations pass away; and 
what remains? "And only the grave remaineth 
for me." — Job xvii. 1. We shall be thrown into a 
grave, and there we shall remain to rot, stripped of 
all things. At the hour of death, the remembrance 
of the delights enjoyed, and of all the honors ac- 
quired in this life, shall serve only to increase our 
pain and our diffidence of obtaining eternal salva- 
tion. Then the miserable worldling shall say, *'My 
house, my gardens, my fashionable furniture, my 
pictures, my garments, shall in a little time be no 
longer mine, * and only the grave remaineth for 
me.' '' 

Ah ! at that hour all earthly goods are viewed 
only with pain by those who have had an attachment 
for them. And this pain shall serve only to in- 
crease the danger of their eternal salvation ; for we 
see by experience, that persons attached to the 
world wish at death to speak only of their sickness, 
of the physicians to be called to attend them, and 
of the remedies which may restore their health. 
When any one speaks of the state of the soul, they 
soon grow weary, and beg to be allowed repose. 
They complain of headache, and say that it pains 
them to hear any one speak. And if they sometimes 
answer, they are confused, and know not what to 
say. It often happens that the confessor gives thera 
absolution, not because he knows that they are dis- 
posed for the sacrament, but because it is danger- 
ous to defer it. Such the death of those who think 
but little of death. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah ! my God and Lord of infinite majesty, I am 
ashamed to appear before thee. How often have I 
dishonored thee by preferring to thy grace a sordid 



28 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

pleasure, a little dust, the indulgence of anger, 
caprice, or vanity ! I adore and kiss, O my Re- 
deemer, thy holy wounds, which I have inflicted by 
my sins ; but through these wounds I hope for par- 
don and salvation. Make me, O my Jesus, under- 
stand the great injury I have done thee in leaving 
thee, the fountain of every good, to drink putrid 
and poisoned waters. Of all the offences I have 
given thee, nothing now remains but pain, remorses 
of conscience, and merits for hell. Father, I am 
not worthy to be called thy child. My Father, do 
not cast me off. It is true that I no longer merit 
the grace which would make me thy child ; but 
thou hast died to pardon me. Thou hast said, 
*'Turn ye to me, and I will turn to thee." — Zach. 
i. 3. I give up all my satisfactions, I renounce all 
the pleasures which the world can give me, and I 
turn to thee. Pardon me for the sake of the blood 
which has been shed for me; I repent with my 
whole heart of all the insults I have offered thee. I 
repent, and I love thee above all things. I am not 
worthy to love thee ; but thou dost not refuse the 
love of a heart that has once despised thee. Thou 
didst purposely abstain from taking me out of life 
when I was in sin, that I might love thee. I wish 
to love thee during the remainder of my life, and I 
wish to love nothing but thee. Assist me : give 
me holy perseverance, and thy holy love. Mary, 
my refuge, recommend me to Jesus Christ. 

SECOND POINT. 

The king Ezechias said with tears, " My life 
is cutoff, as by a weaver; whilst I was yet be- 
ginning, he cut me off." — Isa. xxxviii. 12. O, 
how many have been overtaken and cut off by 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 29 

death, while they were executing and arranging 
worldly projects devised with so much labor! At 
the light of the last candle, every thing in this 
world — applauses, diversions, pomps, and greatness 

— vanishes. Great secret of death ! It makes us see 
what the lovers of this world do not see. The most 
princely fortunes, the most exalted dignities, and the 
most superb triumphs, lose all their splendor when 
viewed from the bed of death. The ideas which 
we have formed of certain false happiness, are then 
changed into indignation against our own folly. 
The black and gloomy shade of death then covers 
and obscures every dignity, even that of kings and 
princes. 

At present, our passions make the goods of 
this earth appear different from what they are in 
reality. Death takes off the veil, and makes them 
appear what they really are, — smoke, dung, vanity, 
and wretchedness. O God! of what use are riches, 
possessions, or kingdoms, at death, when nothing 
remains but a wooden coffin, and a simple garment, 
barely sufficient to cover the body? Of what use 
are the honors, when they all end in a funeral pro- 
cession and a pompous obsequy, which will be un- 
profitable to the soul if it be in hell? Of what use 
is beauty, when, after death, nothing remains but 
worms, stench, and horror, and in the end a little 
fetid dust ? 

*'He hath made me," says Job, "as it were a 
by-word of the people, and an example before them." 

— Job xvii. 6. The rich man, the captain, the 
minister of state, dies: his death is the general 
it)pic of conversation ; but if he has led a bad life, 
he shall become '' a by-word of the people, and an 
example before them." As an instance of the 
vanity of the world, and even of the divine justice, 

3* 



30 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

he will serve for the admonition of others. After 
burial, his body shall be mingled with the bodies of 
the poor. **The small and great are there." — Job 
iii. 19. What profit has he derived from the beau- 
tiful structure of his body, which is now but a heap 
of worms? Of what use is the power and authori- 
ty which he wielded, when his body is now left to 
rot in a grave, and his soul has, perhaps, been sent 
to burn in hell ? O, what misery ! to be the occa- 
sion of such reflections to others, and not to have 
made them for his own profit ! Let us then per- 
suade ourselves that the proper time for repairing the 
disorders of the soul, is not the hour of death, but 
the time of health. Let us hasten to do now what 
we shall not be able to do at that hour. The time 
is short. All soon passes away, and comes to an 
end ; let us therefore labor to employ all things for 
the attainment of eternal life. 

Affections and Prayers. 

O God of my soul, O infinite goodness, have 
mercy on me, who have so grievously offended thee. 
I knew that, in yielding to sin, I should lose thy grace, 
and I have voluntarily lost it. Tell me what I must 
do in order to recover it. If thou wishest me to 
repent of my sins, behold, I repent of them with my 
whole heart ; I wish to die of sorrow for them. If 
thou wishest me to hope for thy pardon, I hope for 
it through the merits of thy blood. If thou wishest 
me to love thee above all things, I give up all, I re- 
nounce all the pleasures and goods which the world 
can give me ; I love thee above every good, O my 
most amiable Savior. If thou wishest me to ask 
thy graces, I beg two graces from thee : — do not 
permit me ever more to offend thee, and make me 
love thee; treat me then as thou pleasest. Mary, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 31 

my hope, obtain for me these two graces ; through 
thy intercession I hope to obtain them. 

THIRD POINT. 

How great, then, the folly of those who, for the 
miserable and transitory delights of this short life, 
expose themselves to the danger of an anhapp) 
death, and afterwards of an unhappy eternity ! O, 
how important is that last moment, that last open- 
ing of the mouth, the last closing of the scene! 
On it depends an eternity either of all delights or 
of all torments, a life of eternal happiness or ever- 
lasting woe. Let us consider that Jesus Christ sub- 
mitted to a cruel and ignominious death in order to 
obtain for us the grace of a good death. It is that 
we may at that last moment die in the grace of God, 
that he gives us so many calls, so many lights, and 
that he admonishes us by so many threats. 

Antisthenes, though a pagan, being asked what 
was the greatest blessing which man could receive 
in this world, answered — a good death. And what 
will a Christian say, who knows, by faith, that at the 
moment of death eternity begins, and that at that 
moment he shall he attached to one of two wheels, 
which shall either bring him to eternal joy, or drag 
him to everlasting torments ? If two tickets, on one 
of which was written Hcll^ and on the other Heav- 
67i, were thrown into a lottery box, what care 
would you not take to draw that which would give 
you a right to paradise, and to avoid the other, by 
which you would win a place in hell ! O God! 
how the hands of those unhappy men, who are con- 
demned to risk their life on a game of hazard, trem- 
ble in casting the die on which their life or death 
depends ! How great shall be your terror at the 



32 PREPARATION TOR DEATH. 

approach of that last hour, when you shall say, *' On 
this moment depends my life or death for eternity; 
on this depends whether I shall be forever happy or 
forever in despair " ! St. Bern ar dine of Sienna re- 
lates, that at death a certain prince exclaimed, with 
trembling and dismay, ** Behold, I have so many 
kingdoms and palaces in this world ; but if I die this 
night, I know not what apartment shall be assigned 
to me." 

Brother, if you believe that you must die — that 
there is an eternity — that you can die only once — 
and that, if you then err, your error shall be forever 
irreparable, why do you not resolve to begin at this 
moment to do all in your power to secure a good 
death? St. Andrew Avellino said with trembling, 
*' Who knows what shall be my lot in the next life ? 
Shall I be saved or damned? " The thought of the 
uncertainty of being damned or saved, filled St. 
Louis Bertrand with so much terror, that he could 
not sleep during the night. ** Perhaps," he would say, 
'' I shall be lost." And will not you, who have com- 
mitted so many sins, tremble ? O, hasten to apply 
a remedy in time ; resolve to give yourself sincerely 
to God, and begin from this moment a life which, 
at the hour of death, will be to you a source, not 
of affliction, but of consolation. Give yourself up 
to prayer, frequent the sacraments, avoid all dan- 
gerous occasions, and, if necessary, leave the world, 
secure your eternal salvation, and be persuaded that, 
to insure eternal life, no security can be too great. 

Affections and Prayers. 

O my dear Savior ! how great are my obligations 

to thee ! How hast thou been able to bestow so 

many graces on so ungrateful a traitor as I have 

been ? Thou hast created me ; and in creating me 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 33 

thou didst see the injuries which I would commit 
against thee. Thou hast redeemed me by dying for 
me; and then, too, thou sawest the ingratitude 
which I would be guilty of towards thee. Being 
placed in the world, I turned my back upon thee 
by my sins. My soul was dead and rotten, and thou 
hast restored me to life. I was blind, and thou hast 
enlightened me. I had lost thee, and thou hast en- 
abled me to find thee. I was thine enemy, and 
thou hast made me thy friend. O God of mercy, 
make me feel the obligations which I owe thee, and 
make me weep over the offences which I have com- 
mitted against thee. Ah ! take vengeance on me 
by giving me a great sorrow for my sins. Do not 
chastise me by the privation of thy grace and love. 
O eternal Father, I abhor and detest, above all 
evils, the injuries I have done thee. Have mercy 
on me for the sake of Jesus Christ. Look at thy 
Son dead on the cross. May his blood flow upon 
;ne, and wash my soul. O King of my heart, thy 
kingdom come, I am resolved to banish every af- 
fection which is not for thee. I love thee above all 
things ; come and reign in my heart with undivided 
sway. Grant that I may love thee, and love nothing 
but thee. I desire to please thee to the utmost of 
my ability, and to do thy will in all things, during 
the remainder of my life. Bless, O my Father, this 
my desire, and grant me the grace to keep myself 
always united to thee. All my affections I conse- 
crate to thee, and from this day forward I wish to 
belong to thee alone, my treasure, my peace, my 
hope, my love, my all. I hope for all graces through 
the merits of thy Son. Mary, my queen and mother, 
assist me by thy intercession. Mother of God, pray 
for me. 



34 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



FOURTH CONSIDERATION. 

CERTAINTY OF DEATH. 

"It is appointed unto men once to die." — Heb. ix. 27. 

.^IRST POINT. 

The sentence of death has been written against 
all men; you are a man: you must die. '* Our 
other goods and evils," says St. Augustine, *' are un- 
certain ; death alone is certain." It is uncertain 
whether the infant that is just born shall be poor 
or rich, whether he shall have good or bad health, 
whether he shall die in youth or in old age. But it 
is certain that he shall die. The stroke of death 
shall fall on all the nobles and monarchs of the 
earth. When death comes, there is no earthly pow- 
er able to resist it. Fire, water, the sword, and 
the power of princes, may be resisted ; but death 
cannot be resisted. ^' Resistitur,".says St. Augus- 
tine, ^Mgnibus, undis, ferro, resistitur regibus ; ve- 
nit mors : quis ei resistit ? " — in Psal. xii. Bellua- 
censis relates, that at the end of his life a certain 
king of France said, ** Behold, with all my power, 
I cannot induce death to wait for me a single hour 
longer." When the term of life arrives, it is not 
deferred a single moment. *' Thou hast appointed 
his bounds, which cannot be passed." — Job xiv. 5. 

Dearly beloved reader, though you should live as 
many years as you expect, a day shall come, and on 
that day an hour, which shall be the last for you. 
For me, who am now writing, and for you, who read 
this little book, has been decreed the day and the 
moment when I shall no longer write, and you shall 
no longer read. *' Who is the man that shall live. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 35 

and not see death ? " — Ps. Ixxxviii. 49. The sen- 
tence has been already passed. There never has 
been a man so foolish as to flatter himself that he should 
never die. What has happened to your forefathers 
shall also happen to you. Of the immense num- 
bers that lived in this country in the beginning of 
the last century, there is not one now living. Even 
the princes and monarchs of the earth have changed 
their country ; of them nothing nov7 remains but a 
marble mausoleum and an elegant epitaph, vi^hich 
only serve to teach us, that of the great ones of this 
world nothing is left but a little dust shut up within 
a few stones, " Tell me," says Bernard, *' where 
are the lovers of the world ? Of them nothing has 
remained but ashes and worms," 

Since our souls shall be eternal, we ought to pro- 
cure, nof a fortune which soon ends, but one which 
will be everlasting. What would it profit you to be 
happy here, (if it were possible for a soul to be hap- 
py without God,) if hereafter you should be misera- 
ble for all eternity ? You have had great satisfac- 
tion in the house which you have built ; but remem- 
ber that you must soon leave it, and must go to rot 
in a grave. You have obtained a dignity which 
raises you above others ; but death will come and 
reduce you to an equality with the poorest peasant. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah ! unhappy me, who have spent so many years 
only in offending thee, O God of my soul. Behold, 
these years are already past : death is perhaps at 
hand ; and what do I find but pains and remorse of 
conscience 1 O that I had always served thee, O 
my Lord ! Fool that I have been ! I have lived so 
many years on this earth, and, instead of acquiring 
merits for heaven^ I have loaded my soul with debts 



36 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

to the divine justice. Ah, iny dear Redeemer, give 
me light and strength now to adjust my accounts. 
Death is perhaps not far off. I wish to prepare for 
that great moment, which will decide my eternal 
happiness or misery. I thank thee for having wait- 
ed for me till now ; and since thou hast given me 
time to repair the past, behold me, O my God ; tell 
me what I am to do for thee. Dost thou wish me 
to weep over the offences I have offered to thee? I 
am sorry for them, and detest them with my whole 
soul. Dost thou wish me to spend the remaining 
years and days of my life in loving thee ? I desire 
to do so, O God ; I have even hitherto frequently 
resolved to do it; but I have violated my promises. 

my Jesus, I will be no longer ungrateful for the 
great graces thou hast bestowed upon me. If I do 
not now change my life, how shall I be able at death to 
hope for pardon and for paradise ? Behold, I now 
firmly resolve to begin to serve thee in earnest. But 
give me strength ; do not abandon me. Thou didst 
not abandon me when I offended thee ; I therefore 
hope more confidently for thy aid, now that I pur- 
pose to renounce all things in order to please thee. 
Accept me, then, as one of thy lovers, O God wor- 
thy of infinite love. Receive the traitor that now 
casts himself with sorrow at thy feet — that loves 
thee, and asks thy mercy. I love thee, O my Jesus ; 

1 love thee with my whole heart : I love thee more 
than myself Behold, I am thine ; dispose of me, 
and of all that I possess, as thou pleasest. Give me 
perseverance in obeying thy commands; give me 
thy love ; and then do with me whatsoever thou 
wishest. Mary, my mother, my hope, my refuge, to 
thee I recommend myself, to thee I consign my soul ; 
pray to Jesus for me. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 37 



SECOND POINT. 

It is a;ppointed. It is certain, then, that we are 
all condemned to death. We are born, says St. 
Cyprian, with the halter on the neck ; every step 
we make brings us nearer to death. My brother, as 
your name has been one day inserted in the regis- 
try of baptisms, so it shall be one day written in 
the records of the dead. As, in speaking of your 
ancestors, you say, *'God be merciful to my father, 
to my uncle, ♦o my brother," so others shall say the 
same of you As you have heard the death-bell 
toll for many, so others shall hear it toll for you. 

But what would you say if you saw a man, on his 
way to the place of execution, jesting, laughing, 
looking about in every direction, and thinking only 
of comedies, festivities, and amusements ? And 
are not you now on your way to death ? What are 
the objects of your thoughts ? Behold in that 
grave your friends and relatives, on whom justice 
has been already executed. How great is the ter- 
ror and dismay of a man condemned to die, when 
he beholds his companions hanging dead on the 
gibbet ! Look, then, at these dead bodies. Each 
of them says to you, *' Yesterday. for me; to-day 
for thee." — Eccl. xxxviii. 23. The same is said to 
you by the pictures of your deceased relatives, by 
the memorandum-books, the houses, the beds, the 
garments which they have left. 

To know that you must die — that after death 
you shall enjoy eternal glory, or suffer eternal tor- 
ments — that on death depends your eternal happi- 
ness or eternal misery — and, with all this before 
your eyes, not to think of settling your accounts, 
and of adopting every means of securing a happy 
death, is surely the extreme of folly. We pity 
4 



38 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

those who meet with a sudden and unprovided 
death ; why, then, do we not endeavor to be always 
prepared? We, too, may die suddenly and with- 
out preparation. But, sooner or later, with or 
without warning, whether we think or think not of 
it, we shall die ; and every hour, every moment 
brings us nearer to our end, which shall be the in- 
iirmity that will banish us from this world. 

In every age, houses, streets, and cities are filled 
with new people ; the former inhabitants are shut 
up in the grave. As the days of life have ended 
for them, so a time will come, when neither I, nor 
you, nor any one alive, shall live any longer on this 
earth. ^ ** Days shall be formed and no one in 
them." — Ps. cxxxviii. 16. We shall all then be in 
eternity, which shall be for us either an eternal 
day of delights or an eternal night of torments. 
There is no medium ; it is certain and of faith that 
one or the other will be our lot. 

Affections and Prayers. 
My beloved Redeemer, I w^ould not dare to 
appear before thee, did I not see thee hanging 
on the cross, lacerated, despised, and lifeless, for. 
the love of me. My ingratitude has been great ; 
but thy mercy is still greater. My sins have been 
very grievous ; but thy merits exceed their enor- 
mity. Thy wounds, thy blood, and thy death, 
are my hope. I deserved hell by my first sin:; to 
that sin I have added so many other ofiences. And 
thou hast not only preserved my life, but thou hast 
also invited me to pardon, and hast offered me 
peace with so much mercy and so much love. 
How can I fear that thou wilt drive me away, now 
that I love thee and desire nothing but thy grace. 
Yes, ray dear Lord, I love thee with my whole heart, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 39 

and I desire only to love thee. I love thee, and am 
sorry for having despised thee, not so much because I 
have deserved hell, as because I have offended thee, 
my God, who hast loved me so tenderly. O my 
Jesus, open to me the bosom of thy goodness ; add 
mercies to mercies. Grant that I may be no long- 
er ungrateful to thee ; change my whole heart ; grant 
that my heart, which once despised thy love, and 
exchanged it for the miserable delights of this earth, 
may now be entirely thine, and may burn with con- 
tinual flames for thee. I hope to gain paradise, that 
I may always love thee. I cannot enjoy in that 
kingdom a place among the innocent — I must re- 
main among the penitents ; but though among these, 
I wish to love thee more than the innocent. For 
the glory of thy mercy, make all heaven behold so 
great a sinner inflamed with an ardent love. I re- 
solve henceforth to be all thine, and to think only 
of loving thee. Assist me with thy light and grace 
to execute this desire, w^hich thou in thy goodness 
hast inspired. O Mary, thou who art the mother of 
perseverance, obtain for me the grace to be faithful 
to this my promise. 

THIRD POINT. 

Death is certain. But, O God ! this truth Chris- 
tians know, this they believe and see : and how do 
they still live? As forgetful of death as if they 
were never to die. If after this life there were 
neither hell nor paradise, could they think less of 
them than they do at present ] It is this forget- 
fulness that makes them lead so wicked a life. My 
brother, if you wish to live well, spend the remain- 
ing days of life with death before your eyes. *' O 
mors, bonum est judicium tuum." EccL xli. 3. O, 



40 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

how correct the judgments, how well directed the 
actions of the man whose judgments are formed, 
and whose conduct is regulated, in view of death ! 
Consider the end of life, says St. Lawrence Jus- 
tinian, and you shall love nothing in this world. 
** Consideratur vitae terminus, et non erit in hoc 
mundo quid ametur." — De Lingo Vitcs, cap. v. 
" All that is in the world is the concupiscence of 
the eyes, and the pride of life.'' — I John ii. 16. 
All the goods of this earth are reduced to the pleas- 
ures of sense, to riches and honors. But all these 
are easily despised by the man who considers that 
he shall be soon reduced to ashes, and that he shall 
be soon buried under the earth, to be the food of 
worms. 

And in reality it was at the sight of death that 
the saints despised all the goods of this earth. St. 
Charles Borromeo kept on his table a death*s bead, 
in order to have it always in view. Cardinal Baro- 
nius had inscribed on his ring the words '' Me- 
mento mori." Remeinher death. The venerable 
P. Juvenal Ancina, bishop of Saluzzo, kept be- 
fore him the skull of a dead man, on which was 
written, '^ What you are, I was ; and what I am, 
you shall be." A holy hermit being asked, at 
death, how he could feel so glad and cheerful, said, 
*'I have always kept death before my eyes; and, 
therefore, now that it has arrived, I see nothing 
new." 

How great should be the folly of a traveller, who 
would think only of acquiring dignities and posses- 
sions in the countries through which he passes, and 
should reduce himself to the necessity of living 
miserably in his native land, where he must remain 
during his whole life ! And is not he a fool, who 
seeks after happiness in this world, where he shall 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 41 

remain only a few days, and exposes himself to the 
risk of being unhappy in the next, where he must 
live for eternity ? We do not fix our affections on 
borrowed goods, because we know that they must 
soon be returned to the owner. All the goods of 
this earth are lent to us ; it is folly to set our hearts 
on what we must soon quit. Death will strip us of 
them all. The acquisitions and fortunes of this 
world all terminate in an opening of the mouth, in 
a funeral, in a descent to the grave. The house 
which you have built for yourself you must soon 
give up to others. The grave will be the dwelling 
of your body till the day of judgment; from thence 
it shall go to paradise or to hell, where the soul 
shall have gone before. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Then, at death, all shall be at an end for me. I 
shall then find only the little I have done for thee, O 
my God. And what do I wait for ? Do I wait till 
death come and find me as miserable and defiled 
with sin as I am at present ? Were I now called to 
eternity, I should die with great disquietude on ac- 
count of my past sins. No, my Jesus ; I will not 
die so discontented. I thank thee for having given 
me time to weep over my iniquities and to love thee. 
I wish to begin from this moment. I am sorry from 
the bottom of my heart for having offended thee, O 
Sovereign Good, and 1 love thee above all things — 
I love thee more than my life. My Jesus, I give 
myself entirely to thee. From this moment I em- 
brace and unite thee to my heart. I now consign 
my soul to thee. " Into thy hands I commend my 
spirit.^' I will not wait to give it to thee when that 
vrqficiscere shall announce my departure from this 
world. I will not wait till then to ask thee to savd 
4* 



42 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

me. Jesu, sis mifii Jesus, My Savior, save me now 
by granting me pardon and the grace of thy holy 
love. Who knows but this consideration which I 
have read, may be the last call which thou wilt give 
me, and the last mercy which thou wilt show me ? 
Extend thy hand, O my love, and deliver me from 
the mire of my tepidity. Give me fervor, and make 
me do with great love all that thou demandest of 
me. Eternal Father, for the love of Jesus Christ, 
give me holy perseverance and the grace to love 
thee, and to love thee ardently, during the remain- 
der of my life. O Mary, through the love which 
thou dost bear to thy Jesus, obtain for me two graces 
— perseverance and love. 



FIFTH CONSIDERATION. 

UNCERTAINTY OF THE HOUR OF DEATH. 

" Be you then also ready ; for at what hour you think not, 
the Son of man will' come." — Luke xii. 40. 

f 
FIRST POINT. 

It is certain that we shall die ; but the time of 
death is uncertain. ** Nothing/' says Idiota, *' is 
more certain than death ; but nothing is more un- 
certain than the hour of death.'' My brother, God 
has already determined the year, the month, the day, 
the hour, and the moment when I and you shall 
leave this earth and go into eternity ; but this time 
is unknown to us. To exhort us to be always pre- 
pared, Jesus Christ tells us that death shall come, 
unawares, and like a thief in the night '' The da> 
of the Lord shall so come as a thief in the night.- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



43 



1 Thess. V. 2. He now tells us to be always vigi- 
lant ; because, when we least expect him, he will 
come to judge us. '* At what hour you think not, 
the Son of man will come." — Luke xii. 40. St. 
Gregory says that for our good God conceals from 
us the hour of death, that we may always be pre- 
pared to die. " De morte incerti sumus, ut ad mor- 
tem semper parati inveniamur.'' Since, then, says 
St. Bernard, death may take away life at all times 
and in all places, we ought, if we wish to die well 
and save our souls, to live always in expectation of 
death. '^ Mors ubique te expectat : tu ubique eam 
expectabis." 

All know that they shall die-; but the misfortune 
is, that many view death at such a distance, that 
they lose sight of it. Even the old, the most de- 
crepit, and the most sickly, flatter themselves that 
they shall live three or four years longer. But how 
many, I ask, have we known, even in our own times, 
to die suddenly, some sitting, some walking, some 
sleeping ? It is certain that not one of these ima- 
gined that he should die so unprovidedly, and on the 
day on which the stroke of death fell upon him. I 
say, moreover, that of all who have gone to the 
other world during the present year, no one ima- 
gined that he should die and end his days this year. 
Few are the deaths which do not happen unexpect- 
edly. 

When, therefore. Christian soul, the devil tempts 
you to sin, by saying, ** To-morrow you will go to 
confession," let your answer be, ^' How do I know 
but this shall be the last day of my life ? If this 
hour, this moment, in which I would turn my back 
on God, were the last of my life, so that I should 
have no time for repentance, what would become 
of me for all eternity 1 " To how many poor sin- 



44 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

ners has it happened, that in the act of feasting on 
the poison of sin, they were struck dead and sent 
to hell ! ^* As fishes are taken with the hook,'' says 
Ecclesiastes, ^' so.men are taken in the evil time." 
— Eccl. ix. 12. The evil time is that in which the 
sinner actually offends God. The devil tells you 
that this misfortune shall not happen to you ; but 
you should say to him, in answer, *'If it should 
happen to me, what shall be my lot forever? " 

Affections and Prayers. 

Lord, the place in which I ought to be at this 
Yioment, is not that in which I find myself, but 
hell, which I have so often merited by my sins. 
Infernus domus mea est. ** Hell is ray house.'* St. 
Peter says, " The Lord waiteth patiently for your 
sake, not willing that any one should perish, but 
that all should return to penance.'' — 2 Peter iii. 9. 
Then thou hast had so much patience with me, and 
hast waited for me because thou wishest me not to be 
lost, but to return to thee by repentance. My God, 
I return to thee ; I cast myself at thy feet, and sup- 
plicate mercy. '' Have mercy on me, O God, accord- 
ing to thy great mercy." Lord, to pardon me re- 
quires a great and extraordinary act of mercy, be- 
cause I offended thee after I had been favored with a 
special light. Other sinners also have offended thee; 
but they have not received the light which thou 
gavest to me. But, in spite of all my sinfulness and 
ingratitude, thou dost command me to repent of 
my sins, and to hope for pardon. Yes, my Redeem- 
er, I am sorry with my whole heart for having of- 
fended thee, and I hope for pardon through the merits 
of thy passion. Thou, my Jesus, though innocent, 
hast wished to die like a criminal on a cross, and to 
shed all thy blood in order to wash away my sins. 



PREPARATION TOR DEATH. 45 

** O sanguis innocentis, lava culpas pcenitentis." O 
blood of the innocent, wash away the sins of a pen- 
itent. O eternal Father, pardon me for the sake of 
Jesus Christ. Hear his prayers, now that he inter- 
cedes for me and advocates my cause. Bat it is not 
enough to receive pardon ; I desire also, O God 
worthy of infinite love, the grace to love thee ; I 
love thee, O Sovereign Good, and I offer thee hence- 
forth my body, my soui, my liberty, and my will. I 
wish henceforth to avoid not only grievous, but also 
venial offences. I will fly from all evil occasions. 
Lead us not into temptation. For the love of 
Jesus Christ, preserve me from the occasions in 
which I would offend thee. But deliver us from 
evil. Deliver me from sin, and then chastise me as 
thou pleasest; I accept all infirmities, pains, and 
losses, which thou mayst be pleased to send me ; 
it is enough for me not to lose thy grace and thy 
love. Askj and you shall receive. Thou dost prom- 
ise to grant whatsoever we ask ; I ask these two 
graces — holy perseverance and the gift of thy love. 
O Mary, mother of mercy, pray for me; in thee I 
hope. 

SECOND POINT. 

The Lord wishes that we be' not lost ; and there- 
fore, by the threat of chastisement, he unceasingly 
exhorts us to a change of life. '' Except you will 
be converted, he will brandish his bow.'' — Ps. vii, 
13. Behold, he says in another place, how many^ 
because they would not cease to offend me, have 
met with a sudden death, when they least expected 
it, and lived in peace, secure of a life of many 
years! *' For when they shall say. Peace and secu- 
rity, then shall sudden destruction come upon 
them.'* — 1 Thess. v. 3. Again he says, '' Unless 



46 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish.'* 
— Luke xiii. 3. Why so many threats of chastise- 
ment before the execution of vengeance ? It is be- 
cause he wishes that we amend our Ik^es, and thus 
avoid an unhappy death. He, says fet. Augustine, 
who tells you to beware, does not wish to take away 
your life. *^ Non vult ferire, qui clamat tibi : ob- 
serva.'^ It is necessary, then, to prepare our ac- 
counts before the day of accounts arrives. Dearly 
beloved Christian, were you to die, and were your 
lot for eternity to be decided before night, would 
your accounts be ready? O, how^ much would you 
give to obtain from God another year or month, or 
even another day, to prepare for judgment ! Why, 
then, do you not now, that God gives you this time, 
settle the accounts of your conscience ? Perhaps it 
cannot happen, — that this shall be the last day for 
you ! " Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and 
defer it not from day to day ; for his wrath shall 
come on a sudden, and in the time of vengeance he 
will destroy thee." — Eccl. v. 8, 9. My brother, to 
save your soul, you must give up sin. If, then, you 
must renounce it at some time, why do you not 
abandon it at this moment? 

*' Si aliquando," says St. Augustine, ^^ cur non 
modo^" Perhaps you are waiting till death ar- 
rives. But for obstinate sinners, the hour of death 
is the time, not of pardon, but of vengeance. ''In 
tempore vindictse disperdet te." In the time of 
vengeance he will destroy thee. 

Should any one borrow from you a large sum of 
money, you take care to get legal security for it. 
Who knows, you say, what may happen ? Why are 
you not equally careful about the salvation of your 
Boul, which is of far greater importance to you than 
all the riches of the earth? When eternity is at 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 4T 

Stake, why do you not say, '* Who knows what may 
happen ? '^ If you lose a sum of money, all is not 
lost ; though in losing it your entire property should 
be lost, you may still have hopes of recovering it. 
But if at death you lose your soul, then you shall 
truly have lost all, and can never hope to regain it. 
You are careful to keep an exact account of all the 
goods you possess, lest, by dying suddenly, any 
of them might be lost; and, if you meet with a 
sudden death, and find yourself in enmity with 
God, what will become of your soul for all eternity ? 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Redeemer, thou hast spent all thy 
blood, and hast given thy life in order to save my 
soul ; and I have so often lost it by confidence in 
thy mercy. I have, then, so often abused thy good- 
ness to offend thee. By doing so, I have deserved 
to be suddenly struck dead, and to be cast into 
hell. In a word, I have been engaged in a con- 
test with thee. Thou hast treated me with mercy, 
and I offended thee ; thou hast sought after me, 
and I fled away from thee ; thou gavest me time to 
repair the evil I had done, and I employed that 
time in adding insults to insults. Lord, make me 
understand the injustice I have done thee, and the 
obligation by which I am bound to love thee. Ah, 
my Jesus ! how could I be so dear to thee, who 
sought after me so oflen, when I chased thee away ? 
How hast thou been able to bestow so many graces 
on one who has given thee so much displeasure ? 
From this I see the ardor of thy desire to save me 
from perdition. I am sorry with my whole heart 
for having offended thee, O infinite goodness ! Ah, 
receive this ungrateful sheep, that casts itself sor- 
rowful at thy feet ; receive it, and bind it on thy 



48 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

shoulders, that I may never more fly away from thee. 
I will never again abandon thee. I wish to love 
thee : I wish to be thine ; and, provided I belong to 
thee, I am content to suffer every pain. And what 
greater punishment can fall upon me, than to live 
without thy grace, to be separated from thee, who 
art my God, who hast created me and died for me ? 
O accursed sins ! what have you done ? You have 
made me displease my Savior, who has loved me so 
tenderly. Ah, my Jesus, as thou hast died for me, 
so I ought to die for thee. Thou hast died through 
love for me, — I should die through sorrow for hav- 
ing despised thee. I accept death in whatever 
manner and at whatever time thou pleasest to send 
it. Hitherto I have not loved thee, or I have loved 
thee too little. I do not wish to die in this state. 
Ah, grant me a little more time, that T may love 
thee before 1 die. Change my heart ; wound it ; 
inflame it with thy holy love. Through that affec- 
tion of charity which made thee die for me, grant 
me this favor. I love thee with my whole heart. 
My soul is enamored of thee. Do not permit me 
to lose thee. Give me holy perseverance ; give me 
thy holy love. Most holy Mary, my refuge and my 
mother, perform the office of advocate in my 
behalf. 

THIRD POINT. 

Be you ready. The Lord does not tell us to 
prepare ourselves, but to be prepared, when death 
arrives. When death comes, it will be almost im- 
possible, in that tempest and confusion, to tranquil- 
lize a conscience burdened with sin. This, reason 
tells us : this, God threatens, saying that then he 
will come, not to pardon, but to avenge, the con- 
tempt of his graces. " Revenge to me, I will re- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 49 

pay.'' — Rom. xii. 19. It is, says St. Augustine, a 
just punishment, that he who was unwilling, when 
he was able to save his soul, should not be able 
when he shall be willing. '' Justa poena est ut qui 
recta facere, cum posset, noluit, amittat posse cum 
velit." lib. iii. de Lib. Arbit. But you \\'\\\ say, 
" Perhaps I may still be converted and saved." 
Would you throw yourself into a deep well, saying, 
*• Perhaps I may not be drowned ? " O God ! how 
sin blinds the understanding, and deprives the soul 
of reason ! When there is question of the body, 
men speak rationally ; but when the soul is at stake, 
they speak like fools. 

My brother, who knows but this point, which 
you read, is the last warning which God shall send 
you ? Let us immediately prepare for death, that 
it may not come upon us without giving us time to 
prepare for judgment. St. Augustine says that God 
conceals from us the last day of life, that we may be 
always prepared to die. '' Latet ultimus dies, ut 
observentur omnes dies." Hom. xiii. St. Paul tells 
us that we must work out our salvation, not only 
with fear, but also wdth trembling. " With fear and 
trembling work out your salvation." — Phil. ii. 12. 
St. Antonine relates that a certain king of Sicily, 
to make one of his subjects understand the fear with 
which he sat on the throne, commanded him to sit 
at table with a sword suspended over him by a 
slender thread. The apprehension that the thread 
should give way, filled him with so much terror, 
that he could scarcely taste food. We are all in 
like danger ; for the sword of death, on which our 
eternal salvation depends, may at each moment fall 
upon us. 

There is question of eternity. '*If the tree 
fall to the south or to the north, in which place 
5 



50 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

soever it shall fall, there shall it lie." — Eccl. xi. 3. 
If, when death comes, we are found in the grace of 
God, O, with what joy shall we say, ** I have secured 
all ; I can never again lose God ; I shall be happy 
forever " ! But, if death shall find the soul in sin, 
with what despair shall she exclaim, Ergo erravi- 
mus ! — therefore I have erred ; and for my error 
there shall be no remedy for all eternity. The fear 
of an unhappy eternity made the Venerable P. M 
Avila, apostle of Spain, say, when the news of 
death was brought to him, *' O that I had a little 
more time to prepare for death ! " This fear made 
the Abbot Agatho, who spent so many years in 
penance, say at death, '* What shall become of 
me ? Who can know the judgments of Gqd ? " 
St. Arsenius, too, trembled at death; and, being 
asked, by his disciples, why he was so much 
alarmed, he said, ** My children, this fear is not new 
to me ; I have had it always during my v/hole life.'* 
Above all, holy Job trembled when he said, '' What 
shall I do when the Lord shall rise to judge ? and 
when he shall examine, what shall I answer him ? '* 
— Job xxxi. 14. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my God ! who has ever loved me more than 
thou hast ? And whom have I despised and in- 
sulted more than I have insulted thee? O blood, 
O wounds of Jesus, you are my hope. Eternal 
Father, look not upon my sins, but look at the 
wounds of Jesus; behold thy Son dying through 
pain for my sake, and asking thee to pardon me. I 
repent, O my Creator, of having offended thee. I 
am sorry for it above all things. Thou hast created 
me that I might love thee ; and I have lived as if 
thou hadst made me to offend thee. For the love 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 51 

of Jesus Christ, pardon me and give me grace to 
love thee. I have hitherto resisted thy wiil, but I 
will resist no longer ; I will do whatsoever thou 
commandest. Thou dost command me to detest 
the outrages! have offered to thee; behold, I de- 
test them with my whole heart. Thou dost com- 
mand me to resolve to offend thee no more ; behold, 
I resolve to lose my life a thousand times, rather 
than forfeit thy grace. Thou dost command me to 
love thee with my whole heart ; yes, with my whole 
heart I love thee, and 1 wish to love nothing else but 
thee. Thou shalt henceforth be my only beloved, 
my only love. From thee I ask, and from thee I 
hope, for holy perseverance. For the love of Jesus 
Christ, grant that I may be always faithful to thee, 
and that I may always say to thee, with St. Bona- 
venture, " Unus est dilectus meus, unus est amor 
meus." My beloved is one, my love is one. I do 
not wish that my life be employed any longer in 
giving thee displeasure ; I wish to spend it only in 
weeping over the offences I have committed against 
thee, and in loving thee. Mary, my mother, thou 
prayest for all who recommend themselves to thee, 
— pray to Jesus also for me. 



SIXTH CONSIDERATION. 

DEATH OF THE SINNER. 

*' When distress cometh upon them, they will seek for peace, 
and there shall be none. Trouble shall come upon trouble." 
' — Ezec. vii. 25. 

FIRST POINT. 

At present sinners banish the remembrance and 
thought of death; and thus they seek after peace.. 



52 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

though they never find it, in the sinful life which 
they lead. But when they shall be found in the 
straits of death, on the point of entering into 
eternity, **they shall seek peace, and there shall be 
none." Then they shall not be able to fly from the 
torture of their sinful conscience. They shall seek 
peace; but what peace can be found by a soul loaded 
with sins which devour her like so many vipers? 
What peace can the sinner enjoy when he sees that 
he must in a few moments appear before the judg- 
ment-seat of Jesus Christ, whose law and friendship 
he has till then despised? *' Trouble shall come 
upon trouble." The news of death, which has 
been already announced, the thought of being 
obliged to take leave of every thing in this world, 
the remorses of conscience, the time lost, the want 
of time at present, the rigor of the divine judgment, 
the unhappy eternity which awaits sinners, — all 
these things shall form a horrible tempest, which 
shall confuse the mind, shall increase diffidence ; 
and thus, full of confusion and distrust, the dying 
sinner shall pass to tb^ other world. 

Trusting in the divine promise, Abraham, with 
great merit, hoped in God against human hope. 
** Who against hope believed in hope." — Rom. iv. 
18. But sinners, with great dem.erit, hope falsely 
and to their own perdition, not only against hope, 
but also faith; because they despise the menaces of 
God against all who are obstinate in sin. They 
are afraid of a bad death, but they fear not to lead 
a wicked life. But who has assured them that 
they shall not be suddenly deprived of life by a 
thunderbolt, by apoplexy, or by the bursting of a 
blood-vessel? And were they at death even allowed 
time for repentance, who assures them that they 
shall sincerely return to God? To conquer bad 
habits, St. Augustine had to fight against them for 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 63 

twelve years. How shall the dying man, who has 
always lived in sin, be able, in the midst of the pains, 
the stupefaction, and the confusion of death, to re- 
pent sincerely of all his past iniquities ? I say sin- 
cereli/y because it is not enough to say and to prom- 
ise with the tongue ; it is necessary to promise with 
the heart. O God ! what terror and confusion 
shall seize the unhappy Christian who has led a 
careless life, when he shall find himself overwhelmed 
with sins, with the fears of judgment, of hell, and 
of eternity! O, what confusion shall these thoughts 
produce when the dying sinner shall find his reason 
gone, his mind darkened, and his whole frame as- 
sailed by the pains of approaching death ! He will 
make his confession ; he will promise, weep, and 
seek mercy from God, but without understanding 
what he does ; and in this tempest of agitation, of 
remorse, of pains and terrors, he shall pass to the 
other life. ^^ The people shall be troubled, and they 
shall pass." — Job xxxiv. 20. A certain author 
says that the prayers, the wailings, and promises of 
dying sinners, are like the tears and promises of a 
man assailed by an enemy who points a dagger to 
his throat to take away his life. Miserable the 
man who takes to his bed in enmity with God, and 
passes from the bed of sickness to eternity. 

Affections and Prayers. 
O wounds of Jesus, you are my hope. I should 
despair of the pardon of my sins, and of my eternal 
salvation, did I not behold you, the fountains of 
mercy and grace, through which a God has shed 
all his blood, to wash my soul from the sins which 
I have committed. I adore you, then, O holy 
wounds, and trust in you. I detest a thousand 
times, and curse those vile pleasures by which I 



'54 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

have displeased my Redeemer, and have miserably 
lost his friendship. Looking then at you, I raise 
up my hopes, and turn my affections to you. My 
dear Jesus, thou dost deserve to be loved by all 
men, and to be loved with their whole heart. I 
have so grievously offended thee, I have despised 
thy love : but notwithstanding my sinfulness, thou 
hast borne with me so long, and invited me to par- 
don^ with so much mercy. Ah, my Savior, do not 
permit me ever more to offend thee, and to merit 
my own damnation. O God ! what torture should 
I feel in hell at the sight of thy blood and of the 
great mercies thou hast shown me. I love thee, 
and will always love thee. Give me holy persever- 
ance. Detach my heart from all love which is not 
for thee, and confirm in me a true desire, a true 
resolution henceforth to love only thee, my sovereign 
good. O Mary, my mother, draw me to God, and 
obtain for me the grace to belong entirely to him 
before I die. 

SECOND POINT. 

The poor dying sinner shall be assailed, not by 
one, but by many causes of distress and anguish; 
On the one hand, the devils shall torment him. 
At death these horrid enemies exert all their strength 
to secure the perdition of the soul that is about to 
leave this world. They know that they have but 
little time to gain her, and that if they lose her at 
death, they shall lose her forever. ** The devil is 
come down unto you having great wrath, knowing 
that he hath but a short time." — Apoc. xii. 12. 
The dying man shall be tempted, not by one, but 
by innumerable devils, who shall labor for his dam- 
nation. *' Their house shall be filled with serpents." 
— Isa. xiii. 21. One shall say, '' Fear not, you shall 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 55 

recover." Another, *^ You have been deaf to the 
inspirations of God for so many years, and do you 
now expect that he will have mercy on you ? '^ 
Another shall ask, *^ How can you make satisfaction 
for all the injuries you have done to the property 
and character of your neighbors ? '' Another, ** Do 
you not see that your confessions have been null, 
that they have been made without sorrow or a pur- 
pose of amendment ? How shall you now be able 
to repair them ? " 

On the other hand, the dying man shall see him- 
self surrounded by his sins. " Evils," says David, 
** shall catch the unjust man unto destruction." — 
Ps. cxxxix. 12. " These sins," says St. Bernard, 
** like so many satellites, shall keep him in chains, 
and shall say to him, * We are your works ; we shall 
not desert you. We are your offspring ; we will 
not leave you ; we shall accompany you to the other 
world, and shall present ourselves with you to the 
Eternal Judge.' " The dying man will then wish 
to shake off such enemies ; but, to get rid of them, 
he must detest them, he must return sincerely to 
God. His mind is darkened, and his heart hard- 
ened. '^ A hard heart shall fare evil at the last; 
and he that loveth danger shall perish in it." — Eccl. 
iii. 27. St. Bernard says that the man who has 
been obstinate in sin during life, will make efforts, 
but without success, to get out of the state of dam- 
nation ; and that, overwhelmed by his own malice, 
he shall end his life in the same unhappy state. 
Having loved sin till death, he has also loved the 
danger of damnation. Hence the Lord shall justly 
permit him to perish in that danger in which he has 
voluntarily lived till the end of his life. St. Augus- 
tine says that he who is abandoned by sin before he 
abandons it, will scarcely detest it as he ought; 



66 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

because what he will then do shall be done through 
'necessity. ^'Qui prius a peccato relinquitur quam 
ipse relinquat, non libere sed quasi ex necessitate 
condemnat." Miserable the sinner that hardens his 
heart and resists the divine calls ; *^ his heart shall 
be as hard as a stone and as firm as a smith's an- 
vil." — Job xli. 15. Instead of yielding to, and be- 
ing softened by, the graces and inspirations of God, 
the unhappy man becomes more obdurate, as the 
anvil is hardened by repeated strokes of the ham- 
mer. In punishment of his resistance to the divine 
calls, he shall find his heart in the same miserable 
state at the very hour of death, at the moment of 
passing into eternity. '^ A hard heart shall fare 
evil at the last." Sinners, says the Lord, you have 
for the love of creatures, turned your back upon 
me. '* They have turned their back upon me, and 
not their face ; and in the time of their affliction 
they shall say, Arise and deliver us. Where are 
the gods thou hast made thee? Let them arise 
and deliver thee." — Jer. ii. 27. They shall have 
recourse to God at death ; but he will say to them, 
" Why do you invoke me now ? Call on creatures 
to assist you, for they have been your gods." The 
Lord shall address them in this manner, because, in 
seeking him, they do not sincerely wish to be con- 
verted. St. Jerome says that he holds, and that he 
has learned from experience, that they who have to 
the end led a bad life, shall never die a good death. 
" Hoc teneo, hoc multiplici experientia didici quod 
ei non bonus est finis, cui mala semper vita fuit." — 
in Epis. Eusebii ad Dam. 

Affections and Prayers. 
My dear Savior, assist me; do not abandon me. 
I see my whole soul covered with the wounds of sin ; 



PREPARATION TOR DEATH. S7 

my passions attack me violently, my bad habits 
weit^h' me down. I cast myself at thy feet; have 
pity on me, and deliver me from so many evils. 
**In thee, O Lord, I have hoped ; may I not be con- 
founded forever." Do not suffer a soul that trusts 
in thee to be lost. '* Deliver not up to beasts the 
souls that confess to thee." — Ps. Ixxiii. 19. I am 
sorry for having offended thee, O infinite goodness ! 
I have done evil ; I confess my guilt. I wish to 
amend my life, whatsoever it may cost me. But if 
thou dost not help me by thy grace, I am lost. Re- 
ceive, O my Jesus, the rebel who has so grievously 
outraged thy majesty. Remember that I have been 
purchased by thy blood and thy life. Through the 
merits, then, of thy passion and death, receive me 
into thy arms, and give me holy perseverance. I 
was lost ; thou hast called me back ; I will resist no 
longer ; to thee I consecrate myself; bind me to 
thy love ; and do not permit me ever more to lose 
thee by losing thy grace again. My Jesus, do not 
permit it. Mary, my queen, do not permit it; ob- 
tain for me death, and a thousand deaths, rather 
than that I should again forfeit the grace of thy 
Son. 

THIRD POINT. 

God unceasingly threatens sinners with an un- 
happy death. *' Then they shall call upon me, and 
I will not hear."— Prov. i. 28. '* Will God hear 
his cry wheu distress shall come upon him? " — Job 
xxvii. 9. " 1 also will laugh in your destruction, 
and will mock." — Prov. i. 26. According to St. 
Gregory, God laughs when he is unwilling to show 
mercy, (" Ridere Dei est nolle misereri.") ''Re- 
venge is mine, and I will repay them in due time." 
— Deut. xxxii. 35. The Lord pronounces the 



68 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

same threats in so many other places; and sinners 
live in peace as securely as if God had certainly 
promised to give them, at death, pardon and para- 
dise. It is true that at whatsoever hour the sinner 
is converted, God promises to pardon him. But he 
has not promised that sinners shall be converted at 
death ; on the contrary, he has often protested 
that ** they who live in sin shall die in sin/' — John 
viii. 21. ** You shall die in your sins.'^ — Ibid. 24. 
He has declared that they who shall seek him at 
death, shall not find him. *' You shall seek me, and 
shall not find me.'' — John vii. 34. We must, there- 
fore, seek God while he may be found. ^^ Seek ye 
the Lord while he may be found." — Isa. Iv. 6. A 
time shall come when it will not be in our power to 
find him. Poor blind sinners ! they put off their 
conversion till death, when there shall be no more 
time for repentance. *^ The wicked," says Oleaster, 
"have never learned to do good unless when the 
time for doing good is no more." God wills the 
salvation of all ; but he takes vengeance on obsti- 
nate sinners. 

Should any man in the state of sin be seized w^ith 
apoplexy and be deprived of his senses, what senti- 
ments of compassion would be excited in all who 
should see him die without the sacraments and with- 
out signs of repentance ! And how great should be 
their delight, if he recovered the use of his senses, 
asked for absolution, and made acts of sorrow for 
his sins ! But is not he a fool, who has time to re- 
pent, and prefers to continue in sin? or who returns 
to sin, and exposes himself to the danger of being 
cut off by death without the sacraments, and with- 
out repentance ? A sudden death excites terror in 
all ; and still how many expose themselves to the 
danger of dying suddenly, and of dying in sin ? 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 59 

** Weight and balance are the judgments of the 
Lord." — Prov. xvi. 11. We keep no account of 
the graces which God bestows upon us; but he 
keeps an account of them, he measures them ; and 
when he sees them despised to a certain degree, he 
then abandons the sinner in his sin, and takes him 
out of life in that unhappy state. Miserable the 
man who defers his conversion till death. "Poeni- 
tentia," says St. Augustine, " quae ab infirmo petitur 
infirma est.^' — Serm. Ivii. de Temp. "The repent- 
ance which is sought from a sick man is infirm." 
St. Jerome teaches, that of a hundred thousand sin- 
ners who continue in sin till death, scarcely one 
shall be saved. " Vix de centum millibus quorum 
mala vita fuit, meretur in morte a Deo indulgentiam 
unus." — in Epis. Euseb. de Morte ejusd. St. Vin- 
cent Ferrer writes, that it is a greater miracle to 
bring such sinners to salvation, than to raise the 
dead to life. ** Majus miraculum est quod male vi- 
ventes faciant bonum finem, quam suscitare mor- 
tuos." — Serm. i. de Nativ. Virg. What sorrow, 
what repentance can be expected at death from the 
man who has loved sin till that moment? Bellar- 
mine relates that when he exhorted to contrition a 
certain person whom he assisted at death, the dying 
man said that he did not know what was meant by 
contrition. The holy bishop endeavored to ex- 
plain it to him; but he said, ^* Father, I do not un- 
derstand you ; these things are too high for meP 
He died in that state, leaving, as the venerable 
cardinal has written, sufficiently evident signs of his 
damnation, St. Augustine says, that, by a just chas- 
tisement, the sinner who has forgotten God during 
life, shall forget himself at death. *'^quissime 
percutitur peccator ut moriens obliviscatur sui qui 
vivens oblitus est Dei." — Serm. x. de Sanct. 



60 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

" Be not deceived/' says the apostle ; *' God is 
not mocked. For what things a man shall sow, 
those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his 
flesh, of the flesh also shall he reap corruption." — 
Gal. vi. 7. It would be a mockery of God to live 
m contempt of his laws, and afterwards to reap 
remuneration and eternal glory. But God is not 
mocked. What we sow in this life we reap in the 
next. For him who sows the forbidden pleasures of 
the flesh, nothing remains but corruption, misery, 
and eternal death. 

Beloved Christian, what is said for others is also 
applicable to you. Tell me ; if you were at the 
point of death, given over by the physicians, de- 
prived of your senses, and in your last agony, with 
what fervor would you ask of God another month 
or week, to settle the accounts of your conscience ! 
God at present gives you this time ; thank him for 
it, and apply an immediate remedy to the evil you 
have done ; adopt all the means of finding your- 
self in the grace of God w^hen death shall come ; 
for then there shall be no more time to acquire his 
friendship. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah, my God ! who would have borne with me so 
patiently as thou hast? If thy goodness were not 
infinite, I would despair of pardon. But I have to 
deal with a God who has died for my salvation. 
Thou didst command me to hope, and I will hope. 
If my sins terrify and condemn me, thy merits and 
thy promises encourage me. Thou hast promised 
the life of thy grace to all who return to thee. 
** Return ye and live.'' — Ez. xviii. 32. Thou hast 
promised to embrace him who is converted to thee 
" Turn jre to me, and I will turn to you." — Zach. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 61 

i. 3. Thou hast said that thou knowest not how to 
despise an humble and contrite heart. " A contrite 
and humble heart, O God, thou wilt not despise/' — 
Ps. 1. 17. Behold me, O Lord; I return to thee; I 
acknowledge that I deserve a thousand hells ; I am 
sorry for having offended thee. I firmly promise 
never again to offend thee voluntarily, and to love 
thee forever. Ah ! do not suffer me any longer to 
be ungrateful to such unbounded goodness. O eter 
nal Father, through the merits of the obedience of 
Jesus Christ, who died to obey thee, grant that I 
may till death be obedient to all thy wishes. I love 
thee, O Sovereign Good ; and through the love which 
I bear thee, I desire to obey thee. Give me holy 
perseverance, give me thy love ; I ask nothing more. 
Mary, my mother, intercede for me. 



SEVENTH CONSIDERATION. 

SENTIMENTS OF A DYING CHRISTIAN, WHO 
HAS BEEN CARELESS ABOUT THE DUTIES 
OF RELIGION, AND HAS THOUGHT BUT 
LITTLE OF DEATH. 

" Take order with thy house ; for thou shalt die, and shalt not 
liVe.** — Isa. xxxviii. 1. 

FIRST POINT. 

Imagine yourself at the bedside of a negligent 
Christian, who is overpowered by sickness, and has 
but a few hours to live. Behold him oppressed by 
pains, by swoons, by suffocation, by want of breath, 
by cold sweats ; his reason so impaired, that he 
feels but little, understands little, and can but speak 
6 



62 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

little. The greatest of all his miseries is, that, 
though at the point of death, instead of thinking of 
his soul, and of preparing accounts for eternity, he 
fixes all his thoughts on physicians, on the remedies 
by which he may be rescued from sickness, and 
from the pains which shall soon put an end to life. 
** Nihil aliud quam de se cogitare sufficiunt," says 
St. Lawrence Justinian, speaking of the condition 
of negligent Christians at the hour of death. They 
can think only of themselves. Surely his relatives 
and friends will admonish the dying Christian of 
his danger ? No ; there is not one among all his 
relatives and friends, who has the courage to an- 
nounce to him the news of death, and to advise him 
to receive the last sacraments. Through fear of 
offending him, they all refuse to inform him of his 
danger. (O my God, from this moment I thank 
thee, that at death I shall, through thy grace, be as- 
sisted by my beloved brothers of my congregation, 
who shall then have no other interest than that oif 
my eternal salvation, and shall all help me to die 
well.) 

But though he is not admonished of his approach- 
ing death, the poor sick man, seeing the family in 
disorder, the medical consultations repeated, the 
remedies multiplied, frequent, and violent, is filled 
with confusion and terror. Assaulted by fears, re- 
morses, and difHdences, he says within himself, 
'' Perhaps the end of my days has arrived." But 
what shall be his feelings when he shall be told that 
death is at hand ! ** Take order with thy house ; for 
thou shalt die, and shalt not live.'' What pain shall 
he feel in hearing Father Such-a-one say to him, 
*' Your illness is mortal ; it is necessary to receive 
the last sacraments, to unite yourself with God, and 
lo prepare to bid farewell to the world ! " ** What ! " 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 63 

exclaims the sick man ; " must I take leave of all, 
— of my house, my villa, my relatives, friends, con- 
versations, plays, and amusements ? " '* Yes, you 
must take leave of all." The scrivener is already 
come, and pens this last farewell — / bequeath such 
a thing and such a thing, etc. And what does he 
bring with himself? Nothing but a miserable rag, 
which shall soon rot with him in the grave. 

O, with what melancholy and agitation shall the 
dying man be seized at the sight of the tears of the 
domestics, at the silence of his friends, who have 
not courage to speak in his presence ! But his 
greatest anguish shall arise from the remorses of his 
conscience, which in that tempest shall be rendered 
more sensible by the remembrance of the disorderly 
life he has till then led, in spite of so many calls 
and lights from God, of so many adm.onitions from 
spiritual fathers, and of so many resolutions made, 
but never executed, or afterwards neglected. He 
shall then say, "O, unhappy me! I have had so 
many lights from God, so much time to tranquillize 
my conscience, and have not done it. Behold, I am 
now arrived at the gate of death. What would it 
have cost me to have avoided such an occasion of 
sin, to have broken off such a friendship, to have 
frequented the tribunal of penance? Ah, very little ; 
but, though they should have cost me much pain 
and labor, I ought to have submitted to every incon- 
venience in order to save my soul, which is of more 
importance to me than all the goods of this world. 
O, if I had put into execution the good resolutions 
which I had made on such an occasion, if I had 
continued the good works which I commenced at 
such a time, how happy should I now feel ! But 
these things I have not done, and now there is no 
more time to do them.'' The sentiments of dy- 



b4 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

ing sinners who have neglected the care of their 
souls during life, are like those of the damned who 
mourn in hell over their sins as the cause of their 
sufferings, but mourn without fruit and without 
remedy. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Lord, if it were at this moment announced to me 
that my death was at hand, behold the painful sen- 
timents which would torture my soul. 1 thank thee 
for giving me this light, and for giving me time to 
enter into myself O my God, I will no longer fly 
from thee. Thou hast sought after me long enough. 
I have just reason to fear that thou wilt abandon me, 
if I now refuse to give myself to thee, and continue 
to resist thy calls. Thou hast given me a heart to 
love thee, and I have made so bad use of it ! I have 
loved creatures, and have not loved thee, my Crea- 
tor and Redeemer, who hast given thy life for the 
love of me. Instead of loving thee, how often have 
1 offended, how often have I despised thee, and 
turned my back upon thee ! I knew that by such 
a sin I insulted thee, and still I have committed it. 
My Jesus, I am sorry for all my sins ; they displease 
me above all things. I wish to change my life. 1 
renounce all the pleasures of the world in order to 
love and please thee, O God of my soul. Thou hast 
given me strong proofs of thy love. I too would 
wish before death to give thee some proof of my love. 
From this moment I accept all the infirmities, cross- 
es, insults, and offences, which I shall receive from 
men ; give me strength to submit to them with 
peace. I wish to bear them all for the love of thee. 
I love thee,0 infinite Goodness ! I love thee above 
every good. Increase my love, give me holy perse* 
verance. Mary, my hope, pray to Jesus for me. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 65 



SECOND POINT. 

O, how clearly are the truths of faith seen at the 
hour of death ! But then they only serve to in- 
crease the anguish of the dying Christian who has 
led a bad life, particularly if he had been conse- 
crated to God, and had greater facilities for serving 
him, more time for exercises of piety, more ex- 
amples, and more inspirations. O God ! what tor- 
ture shall he feel in thinking and saying, " I have 
admonished others, and my life has been worse 
than theirs. I have left the world, and have cher- 
ished attachment to worldly pleasures and vanities.'' 
What remorse shall he feel in thinking that, with 
tHe lights which he had received from God, a pagan 
would become a saint ! With what pain shall his 
soul be racked by the remembrance of having 
ridiculed in others certain practices of piety, as if 
they were weaknesses of mind; and of having 
praised certain maxims of the world, of self-esteem, 
or of self-love — such as. It is necessary to seek 
our own advancement ; We ought to avoid suffer- 
ing, and indulge in every amusement within our 
reach ! 

" The desire of the wicked shall perish^ — Ps. 
cxi. 10. How ardently shall we desire at death the 
time which we now squander away ! In his dia- 
logues, St. Gregory relates that a certain rich man, 
called Crysantius, who had led a wicked life, see- 
ing at death the devils who came to carry him off, 
exclamied, '' Give me time, give me time till to-mor- 
row." They replied, " O fool ! do you now seek 
for time ? You have had so much time, but have 
wasted it, and have spent it in committing sin ; and 
DOW you seek for time. Time is now no more.' 
6* 



66 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

The unhappy man continued to cry out and call 
for assistance. To his son Maximus, a monk, who 
was present, he said, ** O my son, assist me ; O 
Maximus, come to my aid/' With his face on fire, 
he sprang in a furious manner from one side of the 
bed to the other ; and in that state of agitation, 
screaming aloud, like one in despair, he breathed 
forth his unhappy soul. 

Alas ! during this life, these fools love their 
folly ; but at death, they open their eyes, and con- 
fess that they have been fools. But this only 
serves to increase their diffidence of repairing past 
evils ; and dying in this state, they leave their sal- 
vation very uncertain. My brother, now that you 
read this point, I imagine that you too say, ^' This 
is indeed true." But if this is true, your folly and 
misfortune shall be still greater, if, after knowing 
these truths during life, you neglect to apply a 
remedy in time. This very point which you have 
read, shall be a sword of sorrow for you at death. 

Since, then, you now have time to avoid a death 
so full of terror, begin instantly to repair the past ; 
do not wait for that time in which you can make 
but little preparation for judgment. Do not wait 
either for another month, or for another week. 
Perhaps this light, which God in his mercy gives 
you now, may be the last light and the last call for 
you. It is folly to be unwilling to think of death, 
which is certain, and on which eternity depends ; 
but it would be still greater folly to reflect on it, 
and not prepare for judgment. Make now the re- 
flections and resolutions which you would then 
make: they may be made now with profit — then 
without fruit ; now with confidence of saving your 
soul — then with diffidence of your salvation. A 
gentleman who was about to take leave of the court 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 67 

of Charles the Fifth, to live only to God, was 
asked by the ernperor why he thought of quitting 
the court. The gentleman answered, ** To secure 
salvation, it is necessary that some time spent in 
penitential works should intervene between a dis- 
orderly life and death." 

Affections and Prayers, 

O ray God, I will no longer abuse thy mercy. I 
thank thee for the light thou now givest me, and I 
promise to change my life. I see that thou canst not 
bear with me any longer. I will not wait till thou 
either send me to hell, or abandon me to a wicked 
life, which should be a greater punishment than 
death itself Behold, I cast myself at thy feet ; 
receive me into favor. I do not deserve thy 
grace ; but thou hast said, *' The wickedness of 
the wicked shall not hurt him, in whatsoever day he 
shall turn from his wickedness." — Ezec. xxxiii. 
12. If, then, O my Jesus, I have hitherto offended 
thy infinite goodness, I now repent with my whole 
heart, and hope' for pardon. I will say with St. 
Anselm, "Ah, since thou hast redeemed me by thy 
blood, do not permit me to be lost on account of 
my sins." Look not on my ingratitude ; but have 
regard to the love which made thee die for me. 
If I have lost thy grace, thou hast not lost the 
power of restoring it to me. Have mercy on me, 
then, O my dear Redeemer. Pardon me, and give 
me grace to love thee ; for I purpose henceforth to 
love nothing but thee. Among so many possible 
creatures, thou hast chosen me to love thee. I 
make choice of thee, O Sovereign Good, to love thee 
above every good. Thou goest before me with thy 
cross : I am willing to follow thee with the cross 
which thou wilt give me to carry. I embrace every 



68 PREPARATION FOR DEATH, 

mortification and every pain which shall come from 
thee. Do not deprive me of thy grace, and I arn 
content. Mary, my hope, obtain for me, from God, 
perseverance and the grace to love him ; and I ask 
nothing more. 

THIPwD POINT. 

The dying man who has neglected the salvation 
of his soul, shall find thorns in every thing that 
shall be presented to him ; — thorns in the remem- 
brance of past amusements, punctilios, and pomps ; 
thorns in the friends who shall visit him, and in 
whatever their presence shall bring before his 
mind ; thorns in the spiritual fathers who shall 
assist him in turn ; thorns in the sacraments of 
penance, eucharist, and extreme unction, which he 
must receive ; thorns even in the crucifix which 
shall be placed before him. In that sacred image 
he shall read his want of correspondence to the 
love of a God who died for his salvation. 

"O, fool that I have been ! '^ the poor sick man 
shall say. *' With the lights and opportunities which 
God has given me, I could have become a saint. I 
could have led a life of happiness in the grace of 
God ; and after so many years which he gave me^ 
what do I find but torments, diffidences, fears, re- 
morses of conscience, and accounts to render to 
God ? I shall scarcely save my soul." And when 
shall he say this? When the oil in the lamp is on 
the point of being consumed, and the scene of this 
world is about to close forever ; when he finds 
himself in view of two eternities, one happy, the 
other miserable ; when he is near that last opening 
of the mouth, on which depends his being always in 
bliss, or always in despair, as long as God shall be 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 69 

God. What would he then give for another year 
or month, or even for another week, with the per- 
fect use of his faculties ! In the stupefaction, op- 
pression of the chest, and difficulty of breathing, 
under which he then labors, he can do nothing : he 
is incapable of reflection, or of applying his mind 
to the performance of any good act ; he is, as it 
were, shut up in a dark pit of confusion, where he 
can see nothing but the ruin which threatens him, 
and which he feels himself unable to avert. He 
would wish for time ; but the assisting priest shall 
say to him, '^ Prqficiscere ; — adjust your accounts 
as well as you can in the few moments that remain, 
and depart. Do you not know that death waits for 
no one — respects no one ?" 

O, with what dismay shall he then think and 
say, *' This morning I am alive ; this evening I shall 
probably be dead ! To-day I am in this room ; to- 
morrow I shall be in the grave ! And where shall 
my soul be found ? " With what terror shall he be 
seized when he shall see the death caudle pre- 
pared ; when he shall hear his relatives ordered 
to withdraw from his apartment, and to return to it 
no more ; when his sight shall begin to grow 
dim! Finally, how great shall be his alarm and 
confusion, when he shall see that, because death is 
at hand, the candle is lighted ! O candle, O can- 
dle, how many truths shall you then unfold ! How 
different shall you make things appear then from 
what they appear at present ! O, how clearly shall 
you show to the dying sinner, that all the goods of 
this world are vanities, folly, and lies 1 But of 
what use is it to understand these truths, when the 
time of salvation is over ? 



70 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my God, thou wiliest not my death, but that 
I be converted and live. I thank thee for having 
waited for me till now, and I thank thee for the 
light which thou givest me at this moment. I know 
the error I have committed in preferring to thy 
friendship the vile and miserable goods for which I 
have des]jised thee. I repent and am sorry with 
my whole heart for having done thee so great an in- 
jury. Ah ! do not cease, during the remainder of 
my life, to assist me by thy light and grace to know 
and to do all that I ought to do in order to amend 
my life. What will it profit me to know these 
truths when I shall be deprived of the time in 
which they may be reduced to practice? *' De- 
liver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee." 
When the devil shall tempt me to offend thee again, 
ah ! I entreat thee, my Jesus, through the merits 
of thy passion, to stretch forth thy hand, and to 
preserve me from falling into sin, and from becom- 
ing again the slave of my enemies. Grant that in 
all temptations I may have recourse to thee, and 
that I may not cease to recommend myself to thee 
as long as the temptations continue. Thy blood 
is my hope, and thy goodness is my love. I love 
thee, my God worthy of infinite love ; grant that I 
may always love thee. Make known to me the 
things from which I ought to detach my heart, that 
I may be entirely thine : I wish to detach my heart 
from them ; but give me strength to execute this 
desire. O queen of heaven, O mother of God, 
pray for me a sinner. Obtain for me the grace that 
in all temptations, I may never omit to have re- 
course to Jesus and to thee, who, by thy interces- 
sion, preserve from falling into sin all who invoke 
thee. 



I 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH, 71 

EIGHTH CONSIDERATION, 

DEATH OF THE JUST. 

* Precious ia the sight of the Lord is the deat? jf his saints/' 
— Ps. cxv. 15. 

FIRST POINT, 

Considered according to the sen^B, death ex- 
cites fear and terror ; but, viewed with the eyes of 
faith, it is consoling and desirable. To sinners it 
appears full of terror ; but to the saints it m amiable 
and precious. ** It is precious," says St. Bernard, 
'* as the end of labors, the consummation of victory, 
the gate of life," — Trans. Malach. Finis labcrum , 
it is the end of toils and labor, '* Man," say^ Job, 
** born of a woman, living for a short time, is filleit. 
with many miseries." — Jobxiv. I. Behold a pic- 
ture of our life; it is short, and all full of miseries, 
of infirmities, of fears, and passions. ^* What,*^ saya 
Seneca, " do worldlings who desire a long life, seek, 
but a continuation of torments?" *' Tanquaik 
vita petitur supplicii mora," — Ep. ci, *'What,' 
says St. Augustine, ^* is a prolongation of life, bn: 
a prolongation of suffering?" ''Quid est diu va 
vere, nisi diu torqueri?" — Serm. xvii., de Verb 
Domin. Yes ; for, as St. Ambrose tells us, the pres- 
ent life is given us, not for repose, but that we maf 
labor, and by our toils, merit eternal glory. ** Hsbc 
vita homini non ad quietem data est, sed ad labo- 
rem." — Serm. xliii. Hence Tertullian has justly 
said, that when God abridges life, he abridges 
pain. ** Longum Deus adimit tormentum cum vi- 
tam concedit brevet." Hence, though man has 
been condemned to death in punishment of sin, 
still, the miseries of this life are so great, that, ac- 



72 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

cording to St. Ambrose, death appears to be a rem- 
edy and relief, rather than a chastisement. *' Ut 
morsremedium videatur esse, non poena." God pro- 
nounces happy all who die in his grace ; because 
they terminate their labors and go to repose. " Bless- 
ed are the dead who die in the Lord. From 
henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest 
from their labors." — Apoc. xiv. 13. 

The torments which afflict sinners at death, do 
not disturb the peace of the saints. ** The souls 
of the just are in the hands of God, and the tor- 
ment of death shall not touch them." Wis. iii. 1. 
That projiciscei'e which is so full of terror to world- 
lings does not alarm the saints. The just man is 
not afflicted at the thought of being obliged to take 
leave of the goods of the earth ; for he has always 
kept his heart detached from them. During life he 
has constantly said to the Lord, "Thou art the 
God of my heart, and the God that is my portion 
forever." Happy you, said the apostle to his dis- 
ciples, who have been robbed of your goods for the 
sake of Jesus Christ. "You took with joy the 
being stripped of your goods, knowing that you 
have a better and a lasting substance." Heb. x. 
34. The saint is not afflicted at bidding an eter- 
nal farewell to^ honors ; for he always hated them, 
and considered them to be what they really are — 
smoke and vanity. He is not afflicted in leaving 
relatives; for he loved them only in God; and at 
death he recommends them to his heavenly Father, 
who loves them more than he does ; and having a 
secure confidence of salvation, he expects to be 
better able to assist them from heaven, than on 
this earth. In a word, he who has constantly said 
during life, ^^ My God and my all^^ continues to 
repeat it with greater consolation and greater ten- 
derness at the hour of death. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 73 

He who dies loving God is not disturbed by the 
pains of death ; but, seeing that he is now at the 
end of life, and that he has no more time to suffer 
for God, or to offer him other proofs of his love, he 
accepts these pains with joy. With affection and 
peace he offers to God these last remains of life, and 
feels consoled in uniting the sacrifice of his death 
with the sacrifice which Jesus Christ offered for 
him on the cross to his eternal Father. Thus he 
dies happily, saying, ** In peace in the self-same I 
will sleep and I will rest." — Ps. iv. O, how great 
the peace of the Christian who dies abandoned and 
reposing in the arms cJf Jesus Christ, who has loved 
us to death, and has condescended to suffer so 
cruel a death in order to obtain for us a death full 
of sweetness and consolation ! 

Affections and Prayers. 

O, my beloved Jesus, who, to obtain for me a hap- 
py death, hast freely submitted to so painful a death 
on Calvary, when shall I see thee ? The first time 
I shall behold thee, I shall see thee as my judge in 
the very place in which I shall expire. What shall 
I then say? What wilt thou say to me? I will not 
wait till that moment to think of what I shall say; 
I will meditate on it now. I will say to thee, ** My 
Redeemer, thou art the God who hast died for me. 
I have hitherto offended thee ; I have been ungrate- 
ful to thee : I did not deserve pardon ; but afterwards, 
assisted by thy grace, I have entered into myself, 
and, during the remainder of my life, I have be- 
wailed my sins; and thou ha&t pardoned me. Par- 
don me again, now that I am at thy feet, and give 
me a general absolution of all my sins. I did not 
deserve ever again to love thee, because I have 
despised thy love ; but thou in thy mercy hast 
7 



74 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

drawn my heart to thee, so that, if I have not loved 
thee as much as thou dost deserve, I have at least 
loved thee above all things, and have left all to 
please thee. I see that paradise and the posses- 
sion of thy divinity in thy kingdom, is too much 
for me ; but I cannot live at a distance from thee, 
now especially, after thou hast shown me thy ami- 
able and beautiful countenance. I therefore seek 
for paradise, not to enjoy greater delights, but to 
love thee more perfectly. Send me to purgatory as 
long as thou pleasest. Defiled as I am at present, 
I do not wish to enter into the land of purity, and 
to see myself among those pure souls. Send me 
to be purified ; but do not banish me forever from 
thy presence. I shall be content to be one day, 
whenever thou pleasest, called to paradise, to sing 
thy mercies for all eternity. Ah, my beloved 
Judge ! raise thy hand and bless me ; tell me that 
I am thine, and that thou art and shalt be for- 
ever mine. I will always love thee, and thou wilt 
forever love me. Behold, I go to a distance from 
thee ; I go to fire ; but I go in peace, because I go 
to love thee, my Redeemer, my God, my all. I 
am content to go ; but during my absence from 
thee, the greatest of my pains will consist in being 
at a distance from thee. I go, O Lord, to count 
the moments that shall elapse before thou shalt call 
me. Have mercy on a soul that loves thee with all 
her power, and that sighs to see thee, that she may 
love thee better." 

This I hope, O my Jesus, to say to thee at death. 
I entreat thee to give me the grace to live in such 
a manner, that I may then say to thee what I have 
now meditated. Give me holy perseverance, give 
me thy love. Assist me, O Mary, mother of God ; 
oray to Jesus for me. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 75 

SECOND POINT. 

" God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes ; 
and death shall be no more/' — Apoc. xxi. 4. 
Then, at death, the Lord shall wipe away from 
the eyes of his servants all the tears they have shed 
in this world, where they live in the midst of pains^ 
of fears, of dangers, and combats with hell. The 
greatest consolation which a soul that has loved 
God shall experience in hearing the news of death, 
will arise from the thought that she shall soon be 
delivered from the many dangers of offending God 
to which she is exposed in this life, from so 
many troubles of conscience, and from so many 
temptations of the devil. The present life is an 
unceasing warfare with hell, in which we are in 
continual danger of losing our souls and God. St. 
Ambrose says that in this life we walk among 
snares ; we walk continually amid the snares of 
enemies, who lie in wait to deprive us of the life 
of grace. It was this danger that made St. Peter 
of Alcantara say at death to a religious who, in at- 
tending the saint, accidentally touched him, '* Broth- 
er, remove, remove from me ; for I am still alive, 
and am still in danger of being lostJ^ The thought 
of being freed by death from the danger of sin, 
consoled St. Teresa, and made her rejoice, as often 
as she heard the clock strike, that another hour of 
the combat was past. Hence she would say, *' In 
each moment of life I may sin and lose God^ 
Hence the news of approaching death filled the 
saints v/ith consolation ; because they knew that 
their struggles and danger were soon to have an 
end, and that they should soon be in secure pos- 
session of that happy lot in which they could never 
more lose God. 



76 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

It is related in the lives of the fathers, that one 
of them, who was very old, when dying, smiled 
while the others wept. Being asked why he 
smiled, he said. Why do you weep at seeing me go 
to rest ? *' Ex labore ad requiem vado, et vos plo- 
ratis?" Likewise St. Catharine of Sienna, in her 
last moments, said, ** Rejoice with me ;for I quit this 
land of pains, and go to a place of peace, ^^ ** If,'* 
says St. Cyprian, ** you lived in a house whose walls, 
and roof, and floors, were tottering, and threatened 
destruction, how ardently would you desire to fly 
from it ! '' In this life every thing menaces the ruin 
of the soul ; the world, hell, the passions, the re- 
bellious senses, all draw us to sin and eternal 
death. '* Who," exclaimed the apostle, ** shall 
deliver me from the body of this death?" — Rom. 
vii. 24. O, how great shall be the joy of the soul 
in hearing these words ! " Come from Lebanus, my 
spouse, from the dens of the lions." — Cant. iv. 8. 
Come, my spouse, depart from that land of tears, 
from the dens of lions who seek to devour you, and 
to rob you of the divine grace. Hence St. Paul, 
panting after death, said that Jesus Christ was his 
only life; and therefore he esteemed death his 
greatest gain, because by death he acquired that 
life which never ends. '* To me, to live is Christ, 
and to die is gain." — Phil. i. 21. 

In taking a soul, while she is in the state of 
grace, out of this world, where she may change her 
will and lose his friendship, God bestows on her a 
great favor. '* He was taken away lest wickedness 
should alter his understanding." — Wis. iv. 11. 
Happy in this life is the man that lives in union 
with God ; but, as the sailor is not secure until he 
has arrived at the port and escaped the tempest, so 
the soul cannot enjoy complete happiness until she 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 77 

has left this world in the grace of God. " Praise," 
says St. Ambrose, *' the felicity of the sailor ; but 
not until he has reached the port.'* Now, if, at his 
approach to the port, the sailor rejoices, how much 
greater ought to be the joy and gladness of a Chris- 
tian who is at the point of securing eternal sal- 
vation! 

Moreover, it is impossible in this life to avoid all 
venial sins. " For,'' says the Holy Ghost, *' a just 
man shall fall seven times." — Prov. xxiv. 16. He 
who quits this life ceases to offend God. ** For," 
says St. Ambrose, '' what is death but the burial of 
vices?" — De Bono Mort., c. iv. This considera- 
tion makes the souls that love God long for death. 
The Venerable Vincent Caraffa consoled himself at 
death, saying, '* By ceasing to live, I cease forever 
to offend God." And St. Ambrose said, ** Quid 
vitam istam desideramus, in qua quanto diutius quis 
fuerit, tanto majori oneratur sarcina peccatorum." 
Why do we desire this life, in which the longer we 
live, the more we are loaded with sins? He who 
dies in the grace of God, can never more offend 
him. " Mortuus nescit peccare," says the same 
holy doctor. Hence the Lord praises the dead 
more than any man living, though he be a saint. 
** And I praise the dead rather than the living." — 
Eccl. iv. 2. A certain spiritual man gave directions 
that the person who should bring him the news of 
death, should say, ** Console yourself; for the time 
has arrived when you shall no longer offend God." 

Affections and Prayers. 

" Into thy hands I commend my spirit ; thou hast 
edeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth." — Ps. xxx. 
Ah, my sweet Redeemer ! what should become of 
tue if thou had deprived me of life when I was far 

7* 



T9 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

from thee ? I should now be in hell, where I could 
never love thee. I thank thee for not having aban- 
doned me, and for having bestowed on me so many 
great graces in order to gain my heart. I am sor- 
ry for having offended thee. I love thee above all 
things. Ah ! I entreat thee to make me always 
sensible of the evil I have done in despising thee, 
and of the love which thy infinite goodness merits. 
I love thee; and I desire to die soon, if such be 
thy will, that I may be freed from the danger of ever 
again losing thy grace, and that I may be secure 
of loving thee forever. Ah, my beloved Jesus 1 
during these remaining years of my life, give me 
strength to do something for thee before I die. 
Give me strength against all temptations, and 
against my passions, but particularly against the 
passion which has hitherto most violently drawn 
me to sin. Give me patience in all infirmities, and 
under all the injuries which I shall receive from 
men. I now, for the love of thee, pardon all who 
have shown me any contempt, and I beg of thee to 
bestow upon them the graces which they stand in 
need of Give me strength to be more diligent in 
avoiding even venial faults, about v/hich 1 have 
been hitherto negligent. My Savior, assist me. I 
hope for all graces through thy merits. O Mary, 
my mother and my hope, I place unbounded confi- 
dence in thee. 

THIHD POINT. 

Death is not only the end of labors, but it is also 
the gate of life. '* Finis laborum, vitae janua,'' says 
St. Bernard. He who wishes to see God must ne- 
cessarily pass through this gate. *' This is the gate 
of the Lord : the just shall enter into it.' ^ — Ps.cxvii 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 79 

20. St. Jerome entreated death to open his gates 
to him. ** Aperi mihi, soror mea." Death, my 
sister, if you do not open the door to me, I cannot 
enter to enjoy my Lord. Seeing in his house a 
picture in which death was represented with a knife 
in the hand, St. Charles Borromeo sent for a paint- 
er, and ordered him to substitute for the knife a 
key of gold, in order that he might be more and 
more inflamed with a desire of death, which opens 
paradise, and admits us to the vision of God. 

" If," says St. John Chrysostom, " a king had pre- 
pared for one of his subjects apartments in his own 
palace, but for the present obliged him to live in a 
tent, how ardently would the vassal sigh for the 
day on which he should leave the tent to enter into 
the palace ! " In this life the soul, beincr in the body, 
is as it were confined in a prison, which she must 
leave in order to enter the celestial palace. Hence 
David prayed to the Lord to bring his soul out of 
prison. " Bring my soul out of prison, that I 
may praise thy name." — Ps. cxli. 8. When the holy 
Simeon held the infant Jesus in his arms, he asked 
no other grace than to be delivered from the prison 
of the present life. '' Now thou dost dismiss thy 
servant, O Lord." — Luke ii. 29. *' As if detained 
by necessity, he," says St. Ambrose, ^' begs to be 
dismissed." The apostle desired the same grace 
when he said, '* I am straitened, having a desire 
to be dissolved, and to be with Christ." — Phil. i. 

How great was the joy of the cup-bearer of 
Pharaoh, when he heard from Joseph that he should 
be soon rescued from prison, and restored to his 
situation ! And will not a soul that loves God exult 
with gladness at hearing that she shall soon be re- 
leased from the prison of this earth, and go to enjoy 
God l '* While we are in the body, we are absent 



80 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

from the Lord/' — 2 Cor. v. 6. While the soul is 
united to the body, she is at a distance from the 
vision of God, as if in a strange land, and excluded 
from her true country. Hence, according to St» 
Bruno, the departure of the soul from the body 
should not be called death, but the beginning of 
life. ** Mors dicenda non est, sed vitae principium." 

Hence the death of the saints is called their 
birthday ; because at death they are born to that 
life of bliss which shall never end. ** Non est 
justis mors, sed translatio,*' says St. Athanasius. 
To the just, death is only a passage to eternal life. 
O amiable death, says St. Augustine, who will not 
desire thee, who art the end of evils, the close of 
toils, the beginning of everlasting repose ? ** O 
mors desiderabilis malorum finis, laboris clausula, 
quietis principium ! '* Hence, the holy doctor fre- 
quently prayed for death, that he might see God. 
** Eja moriar, Domine, ut te videam." 

The sinner, as St. Cyprian says, has just reason 
to fear death ; because he shall pass from temporal 
to eternal death. ** Mori timeat qui ad secundum 
mortem, de hac morte transibit." But he who is 
in the state of grace, and hopes to pass from death 
to life, fears not death. In the life of St. John the 
Almoner, we read that a certain rich man recom- 
mended to the prayers of the saint an only son, and 
gave the saint a large sum of money to be distrib- 
uted in alms, for the purpose of obtaining from God 
a long life for his son. The son died soon after ; 
but when the father complained of his death, God 
sent an angel to say to him, ** You sought for your 
son a long life ; he now enjoys eternal life in 
heaven." This is, as was promised by the prophet 
Osee, the grace w^hich Jesus Christ merited for us. 
**0 death, I shall be thy death.'' — Osee xiii. 41. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 81 

By dying for us, Jesus has changed death into life 
When Pionius the Martyr was brought to the stake, 
he was asked, by those who conducted him, how he 
could go to death with so much joy. ** You err/' 
replied the saint; ** I go not to death, but to life/' 
— Ap. Eus. lib. iv. cap. xiv. Thus also the 
mother of the young St. Symphorian exhorted him 
to martyrdom. ** My son," said she, ''life is not 
tak«n away from you ; it is only exchanged for a 
better one." 

Affections and Prayers. 

O God of my soul, I have hitherto dishonored 
thee by turning my back upon thee : but thy Son 
has honored thee by offering to thee the sacrifice of 
his life on the cross. Through the honor which 
thy beloved Son has given thee, pardon the dishon- 
or which I have done thee. I am sorry, O Sover- 
eign Good, for having offended thee ; and I promise 
henceforth to love nothing but thee. From thee I 
hope for salvation ; whatever good is in me at pres- 
ent is the fruit of thy grace; to thee I ascribe it all. 
" Gratia Dei sum id quod sum." If I have hither- 
to dishonored thee, I hope to honor thee for eter- 
nity by blessing and praising thy mercy forever. I 
feel a great desire to love thee. This thou hast 
given me ; I thank thee for it, O my Love. Con- 
tinue, continue the aid which thou hast begun to 
give me. I hope to be henceforth thine, and entire- 
ly thine. And what greater pleasure can I enjoy, 
than that of pleasing thee, my Lord, who art so 
amiable, and who hast loved me so tenderly ? O my 
God, I ask only love, love, love; and 1 hope always 
to ask of thee love, love, until, dying in thy love, I 
reach the kingdom of love, where, without ever- 
more asking it, I shall be full of love, and never for 



82 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

a single moment cease to love thee for all eternity, 
and with all ray strength. Mary, my mother, who 
lovest thy God so intensely, and who dost desire so 
vehemently to see him loved, obtain for me the grace 
to love him ardently in this life, that I may love him 
ardently forever in the next. 



NINTH CONSIDERATION 
PEACE OF THE JUST AT DEATH. 

" The souls of the just are in the hands of God, and the tor- 
ment of death shall not touch them. In the sight of the 

umvise they seemed to die ; but they are in peace.'* — 

Wis. iii. 1, &c. 

FIRST POINT. 

The souls of the just are in the hands of God, 
If God holds fast in his hands the souls of the just, 
who can snatch them from him? It is true that 
hell does not cease to tempt and attack even the 
saints at the hour of death ; but it is also true that 
God does not cease to assist, and to multiply helps 
to his faithful servants, whenever their danger is in- 
creased. *^ There,'' says St. Ambrose, ^' there is 
greater aid, where there is greater peril, because 
God is a helper in due time." — Ad Jos. c. v. The 
servant of Eliseus was struck with terror when he 
saw the city encompassed with enemies ; but the 
saint inspired him with courage, saying, '' Fear not ; 
for there are more with us than with them." — 4 
Kings vi. 16. He then showed him an army of 
angels sent by God to defend the city. The devil 
shall come to tempt the dying Christian; but his 
angel-guardian shall come to strengthen him ; his 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 83 

holy advocates shall come ; St. Michael, whom God 
has appointed to defend his faithful servants in their 
last combat with hell, shall come; the divine moth- 
er shall come to chase away the devils, and to pro- 
tect her servant ; above all, Jesus Christ shall come 
to guard against every temptation of hell the inno- 
cent or penitent sheep for whose salvation he has 
given his life. He will give her all the confidence 
and strength which she shall stand in need of in 
that last struggle with her enemies. Hence, full of 
courage, she shall say, '* The Lord became my 
helper.'^ — Ps. xxix. 11. '* The Lord is my light 
and my salvation ; whom shall I fear? " — Ps. xxvi. 
1. God, says Origen, is more solicitous for our 
salvation, than the devil is for our perdition ; for 
the Lord loves our souls far more than the devil hates 
them. ** Major illi cura est, ut nos ad salutem per- 
trahat quam diabolo ut nos ad damnationem impel- 
lat." — Hom. XX. in lib. Num. 

God is faithful, says the apostle ; he does not per- 
mit us to be tempted above our strength. '' God is 
faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above 
that which you are able.'^ — 1 Cor. x. 13. But you 
will say, " Many saints have died with great fear of 
being lost.'' I answer, *' We have but few exam- 
ples of persons who, after leading a holy life, died 
with fears of their eternal salvation." Belluacensis 
says that, to purify them at the hour of death from 
some defect, God sometimes permits holy souls to be 
disturbed by such fears. ** Justi quandoque dure 
moriendo purgantur in hocmundo.'' But generally 
the servants of God have died with a joyful counte- 
nance. At death the judgment of God excites fear 
in all ; but if sinners pass from terror to despair, 
the saints rise from fear to confidence. St. Anto- 
nine relates that, in a severe illness, St. Bernard 



84 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

trembled through fear of judgment, and was tempted 
to diffidence. But thinking on the merits of Jesus 
Christ, he drove away all fear, saying to his Savior, 
Your wounds are my merits — ** Vulnera tua, merita 
mea." St. Hilarion also was seized with fear; but 
he said, ''Go forth, my soul; what do you fear? 
For near seventy years you have served Christ ; and 
are you now afraid of death?" As if he said, 
"My soiil, what do you fear? Have you not served 
a God who is faithful, and knows not how to abandon 
at death the Christian who has been faithful to him 
during life?" Father Joseph Scamacca, of the So- 
ciety of Jesus, being asked if in dying he felt confi- 
dence in God, said, ** Have I served Mahomet, that 
I should now doubt of the goodness of my God, or 
of his desire to save me ? " 

Should the thouorht of havincr offended God at 
some part of our life molest us at death, let us remem- 
ber that he has protested that he forgets the iniqui- 
ties of ail penitent sinners. *' If the wicked do 
penance, 1 will not remember all his iniqui- 
ties.'' — Ezek. xviii. 21, 22. But you may ask, 
** How can I be secure of having received pardon 
from God?'' St. Basil asks the same question. 
" How can any one be certain that God has for- 
given his sins? " '* He can be certain of pardon," 
answers the saint, ** if he say, I have hated and ab- 
horred iniquity." — in Reg. inter, xii. He who de- 
tests sin, can rest secure of having obtained pardon 
from God. The heart of man cannot exist without 
loving some object; it must love creatures or God. 
If it loves not creatures, it loves God. And who 
are they that love God ? All who observe his com- 
mands. ** He that hath my commandments, and 
keepeth them, he it is that loveth me." — John xiv 
21. He, then, who dies in the observance of the 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. bo 

commandments, dies in the love of God ; and he 
that loves, fears not. '^ Charity casteth out fear.*' 
— 1 John iv. 18. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Jesus ! when shall the day arrive, on 
which I can say, ** My God, I can never lose thee " ? 
When shall I see thee face to face, and be secure oi 
loving thee with all my strength for eternity ? Ah, 
my Sovereign Good, my only Love, as long as I 
shall have life, I shall be in danger of offending thee 
and of losing thy grace. There has been an un- 
happy time when I did not love thee, but, on the 
contrary, despised thy love. I am sorry for it with 
my whole soul, and hope that thou hast already par- 
doned me. I now love thee with my whole heart, 
and desire to do all in my power to love and please 
thee. But I am still in danger of refusing thee my 
love, and of again turning my back upon thee. Ah, 
my Jesus, my life and my treasure, do not permit it. 
Should this misfortune ever happen to me, take me 
this moment out of life by the most cruel of deaths ; 
I am content to suffer such a death, and I entreat 
thee to send me such a death, sooner than permit 
me ever to cease to love thee. Eternal Father, for 
the love of Jesus Christ do not abandon me to so 
great an evil. Chastise me as thou wishest ; I de- 
serve and accept any chastisement thou dost please 
to inflict up(^ me ; but preserve me from the pun- 
ishment of seeing myself deprived of thy grace and 
of thy love. My Jesus, recommend me to thy 
Father. Mary, my mother, recommend me to thy 
Son ; obtain for me perseverance in his friendship, 
and the grace to love him ; and then do with me 
what thou pleasest. 
8 



86 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



SECOND POINT. 

" The souls of the just are in the hands of God, 
and the torment of death shall not touch them. 
In the sight of the unwise, they seemed to die; 
.... but they are in peace.'' — Wis. iii. 1, &c. 
In .the eyes of the unwise, the servants of God 
appear to die, as worldlings do, in sorrow and with 
reluctance. But God knows well how to console 
his children in their last moments ; and, even in 
the .midst of the pains of death, he infuses into their 
souls certain sweetnesses, as foretastes of paradise, 
which he will soon bestow upon them. As they 
who die in sin begin to experience on the bed of 
death certain foretastes of hell, certain remorses, 
terrors, and fits of despair, so, on the other hand, 
the saints, by the frequent acts of divine love which 
they then make, by their ardent desire and firm 
hope of soon possessing God, begin to feel that peace 
which they shall afterwards fully enjoy in heaven. 
To the saints death is not a punishment, but a 
reward. '* When he shall give sleep to his beloved, 
behold the inheritance of the Lord." — Ps. cxxvi. 2. 
The death of the Christian that loves God is called, 
not death, but sleep : thus he shall be able to say, 
** In peace in the self-same I will sleep and I will 
rest." — Ps. iv. 9. 

Father Suares died with so much peace, that in 
his last moments he exclaimed, ** Non putabam 
tam dulce esse mori." I could never imagine that 
death would be so sweet. When Cardinal Baronius 
was advised by his physician not to fix his thoughts 
80 much on death, he said, ** Perhaps you think I 
am afraid of death. I fear it not; but, on the 
contrary, I love it." In going to death for the faith ^ 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 87 

the cardinal of Rochester, as Saunders relates, put 
on his best clothes, saying that he was going to a 
nuptial feast. Hence, at the sight of the scaffold, 
he threw away his staff, and said, ** Ite, pedes; 
parum a paradiso distamus." O my feet, walk 
fast ; we are not far from paradise. Before death 
he entoned the Te Deum^ to thank God for giving 
him the grace to die a martyr for the holy faith ; 
and, full of joy, he laid his head on the block. St. 
Francis of Assisium began to sing at the hour of 
death, and invited the brethren to join him. 
Brother Elias said to him, *' Father, at death we 
ought rather to weep than to sing." *' But," replied 
the saint, " I cannot abstain from singing; for I see 
that I shall soon go to enjoy my God." A young 
nun of the order of St. Teresa, in her last illness, 
said to her sisters in religion who stood round her 
bed bathed in tears, ** O God 1 why do you weep ? 
I go to enjoy my Jesus. If you love me, rejoice 
with me." — Dising. parol, i. § 6. 

Father Granada relates, that a certain sportsman 
found a solitary infected with leprosy, singing in his 
last agony. ^* How," said the sportsman, " can you 
sing in such a state? " ** Brother," replied the her- 
mit, " between me and God there is nothing but the 
wall of this body. I now see that my flesh is falling 
in pieces — that the prison shall soon be destroyed, 
and that I shall go to see my God. It is for this 
reason that I rejoice and sing." The desire of see- 
ing God made St. Ignatius the martyr say, that if 
the wild beasts should not take away his life, he 
would provoke them to devour him. " Ego vim 
faciam ut devorer." St. Catharine of Genoa could 
not bear to hear death called a misfortune. Hence 
she would say, *^ O beloved death, in what a mis- 
taken light are you viewed 1 Why do you not come 



88 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

tome? I call on you night and day/' — Life of 
St. Catharine, cap. vii. St. Teresa desired death 
so vehemently that she regarded the continuation 
of life as death : hence she composed the cele- 
brated hymn, / die because I do not die. Such 
the light in which death appeared to the saints. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah ! my supr.eme Good, my God, if for the past 
I have not loved thee, I now turn to thee with my 
whole soul. I take leave of all creatures, and 
choose thee, my most amiable Lord, for the sole 
object of my love. Tell me what thou wishest from 
me : I will do all that thou desirest. I have of- 
fended thee enough : I wish to spend all the re- 
maining moments of life in pleasing thee. Give 
me grace to compensate by my love my past ingrati- 
tude, which has continued to this moment. I de- 
served to burn in the (ire of hell for so many years; 
thou hast sought after me, and hast drawn me to 
thyself Make me now burn with the fire of thy 
holy \o\Q. I love thee, O infinite Goodness ! Thou 
justly claime^rt all the affections of my heart; for 
thou hast loved me more than all others have loved 
me. Thou alone deservest my love; thee only 
do I wish to love. I desire to do every thing in 
my power to please thee. Do with me whatsoever 
thou vvishest. For me it is enough to love thee and 
to be loved by thee. Mary, my mother, assist me ; 
pray to Jesus for me. 

THIRD POINT. 

And how can he fear death who hopes to receive 
a kingly crown in •paradise? ** Non vereamur 
occidi," says St. Cyprian, ** quos constat quando 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 89 

occidimur, coronari?'' How can he fear death 
who knows that by dying in the state of grace his 
body shall become immortal ? ^* This mortal must 
put on immortality/' — 1 Cor. xv. 53. He that 
loves God, and desires to see him, regards life as a 
punishment, and death as a source of joy. ** Pa- 
tienter vivit," says St. Augustine, ** delectabiliter 
moritur." And St. Thomas of Villanova says, that 
death, if it find a man sleeping, comes like a thief, 
robs him, kills him, and casts him into the pit of 
hell. But if it find him watching, it comes as an 
ambassador from God, and salutes him, saying, 
The Lord expects you to the nuptial feast : come, 
I will conduct you to the happy kingdom for which 
you sigh. *' Te Dominus ad nuptias vocat : veni, 
ducam te quo desideras." 

O, with joy does he expect death who finds 
himself in the grace of God, and hopes soon to see 
Jesus Christ, and to hear from him these consoling 
words: ** Well done, good and faithful servant; 
because thou hast been faithful over a few things, 1 
will place thee over many." — Matt. xxv. 2i. O, 
what consolation shall he then receive from his 
works of penance, his prayers, his detachment from 
earthly goods, and from all he has done for God ! 
*' Say to the 'just man, that it is well ; for he shall 
eat the fruit of his doings." — Isa. iii. 10. Then 
he who has loved God shall taste the fruit of all his 
holy^ works. Hence, in hearing that a religious, 
his fiiend, died in sentiments of fervent piety, 
Father Hyppolitus Durazzo, of the Society of 
Jesus, wept not, but exulted with joy and gl id aess. 
" But," says St. John Chrysostom, '' would it not be 
most unre iscnable to believe that heaven is eternal, 
and to pity those who go to that kingdom of de- 
lights ? " *' Fateri coelum, et eos, qui hinc eo com- 
8* 



90 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

mearurit luctu prosequi?" — Ad viduam. What 
special consolation shall the just man receive at the 
hour of death from the devotions performed in 
honor of the mother of God, from the rosaries he 
had recited, from his visits to her image, from his 
fasts on Saturdays, from his frequent attendance at 
her congregation ! Mary is called the faithful Vir- 
gin. O, how great is her fidelity in consoling her 
faithful servants at the hour of death ! A certain 
votary of the most holy Virgin said, in his last mo- 
ments, to Fathet Benetti, '' Father, you cannot 
conceive the consolation w^hich the thought of hav- 
ing served Mary infuses at the hour of death. O 
my father, if you knew the happiness I feel on ac- 
count of having served this mother ! I am not able 
to express it." How great shall be the joy of him 
who has loved Jesus Christ — who has often visited 
him in the most adorable sacrament, and has often 
received him in the holy communion, — when he 
shall see his Lord entering his room in the most 
holy viaticum, and coming to accompany him in his 
passage to eternity! Happy he who shall then be 
able, with St. Philip Neri, to say to his Savior, 
" Behold mv love ! Behold my love! Give me my 
love." 

But you will, perhaps, say, '* Who knows what 
shall be my lot ? Who knows but I shall die an 
unhappy death?" Of you, v/ho speak in this man- 
ner, I ask what it is that causes a bad death. 
Nothing but sin. We should then fear sin only, 
and not death. *' Liquet," says St. Ambrose, 
*' acerbitatem non mortis esse, sed culpae : non ad 
mortem metus referendus, sed ad vitam." — De 
Bona Mort. c. viii. If, then, you desire not to fear 
death, lead a holy life. *' With him that feareth 
the Lord, it shall go well in the latter end." — - 
Eccl. i. 13. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 91 

Father Colombiere held it to be morally impos* 
sible that the man who has been faithful to God 
during life should die a bad death. And before him 
St. Augustine said, *' He who has lived well can- 
not die badly. He who is prepared to die fears no 
death, however sudden." '' The just man, if he 
be prevented with death, shall be in rest.'^ — Wis, 
iv. 7. Since we cannot go to enjoy God without 
passing through death, St. John Chrysostom ex- 
horts us to offer to God what w^e are obliged to 
give him. ** Offeramus Deo quod tenemur reddere." 
And let us be persuaded that they who offer their 
death to God, make the most perfect act of divine 
love which it is in their power to perform ; because, 
by cheerfully embracing that species of death which 
God is pleased to send, and at the time, and in the 
manner in which God sends it, they render them- 
selves like the holy martyrs. He who loves God 
should desire and sigh after death ; because it 
unites him forever with God, and delivers him from 
the danger of losing God. He who does not desire 
to see God speedily, and to be secured against the 
possibility of ever losing God, shows that he has but 
little love for God. Let us, during life, love him to 
the utmost of our power. We should make use of 
life only to advance in divine love ; the measure of 
our love of God at death shall be the measure of 
our love for him in a happy eternity. 

Affections and Prayers. 
My Jesus, bind me to thyself, so that I may never 
more be separated from thee. Make me entirely 
thine before I die, that I may see thee appeased, O 
my Redeemer, the first time I shall behold thee. 
Thou soughtest after me when I fled away from thee ; 
ah ! do not cast me off, now that I seek after thee. 



92 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Pardon me all the offences I have given thee. From 
this day I will thinly only of serving and loving thee. 
Thou hast laid me under too many obligations ; thou 
hast not refused to give thy blood and thy life for 
the love of me. I would wish to be entirely con- 
sumed for the love of thee. O God of my soul, I 
wish to love thee ardently in this life, that I may 
love thee ardently in the next. Eternal Father, 
draw my whole heart to thee ; detach it from earthly 
affections; wound and inflame my whole soul with 
thy holy love. Through the mer-ts of Jesus Christ, 
hear my prayers. Give me holy perseverance, and 
grant me the grace always to ask it of thee. Mary, 
my mother, assist me, and obtain for me the grace 
to ask unceasingly of thy Son the gift of holy per- 
severance. 



TENTH CONSIDERATION. 

MEANS OF PREPARING FOR DEATH. 

" Remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin." — 
Eccl. vii. 40. 

FIRST POINT. 

All confess that they shall die, and die only once, 
and that nothing is of greater importance than tc 
die well ; because on death depends whether we* 
shall be forever in bliss or forever in despair. All 
know that their dying well or ill depends on their 
leading a good or a bad life. How, then, does it 
happen that the greater part of Christians live as if 
they were never to die, or as if to die well or ill was 
of little moment? They live in sin because they do 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 93 

not think of death. *' Remember thy last end, and 
ihou shalt never sin." — Eccl. vii. 40. We must 
be persuaded that the hour of death is not fit for set 
tling the accounts of the soul, and securing the 
great affliir of eternal salvation. In worldly mat- 
ters, prudent men take measures in due time to se- 
cure temporal gain — to obtain a situation of emol- 
ument. To preserve or restore bodily health, the 
necessary remedies are not deferred a single mo- 
ment. What would you say of the man who should 
put off his preparation for a trial on which his life 
depended, till the day of trial arrived? Would you 
not stigmatize as a fool the general who should not 
begin to lay in a supply of provisions and arms, till 
the city is besieged ? Would it not be folly in a 
pilot to neglect till the time of the tempest to pro- 
vide the vessel with an anchor and a helm? Such 
precisely is the folly of the Christian who neglects 
to trauquillize his conscience till death arrives. 
*' When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and de- 
struction, as a tempest, then shall they call upon 

me, and I will not hear Therefore they shall 

eat the fruit of their own way." — Prov. i. 27, &c. 
The time of death is a time of storm and confusion. 
At that awful hour, sinners call on God for assist- 
ance ; but they invoke his aid through the fear of 
hell, Vv'hich they see at hand, and not with true con- 
trition of heart. It is for this reason that God is 
deaf to their cry ; it is for this reason also that 
they shall then taste the fruit of their wicked life. 
What they have sown they shall reap. *'For what 
things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap." — 
Gal. vi. 8. Ah 1 it will not then be enough to receive 
the sacraments ; it is necessary at death to hate sin, 
and to love God above all things. But how can he, 
then, hate forbidden pleasures, who has loved them 



94 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

till that moment ? How can he love God above all 
things, who has till then loved creatures more than 
he loved God ? 

The Lord called the virgins foolish, who wished 
to prepare their lamps when the spouse came. All 
have a horror of a sudden death, because there is 
no time to settle the accounts of conscience. All 
confess that the saints have been truly wise, be- 
cause they prepared for death during life. And 
what are we doing ? V/ill we expose ourselves to 
the danger of preparing for death when it shall 
have arrived? We ought to do at present what we 
shall then wish to have done. O, what pain shall 
then arise from the remembrance of time lost, and 
still more from the remembrance of time spent in 
sin! — time given by God, to merit eternal life; 
but now past, and never to return ! What anguish 
shall the sinner feel when he shall be told, ^^ You can 
be steward no longer ! There is no more time for 
doing penance, for frequenting the sacraments, for 
hearing sermons, for visiting Jesus Christ in the 
holy sacrament, or for prayer. What is done is 
done. To make a good confession, to remove sev- 
eral grievous scruples, and thus tranquillize the con- 
science, would require a better state of mind, and 
time more free from confusion and agitation. * But 
time shall be no longer.'" — Apoc. x. 6. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my God, had I died on the nights known to 
thee, where should I be at present? I thank thee 
for having waited for me ; I thank thee for all those 
moments which I should have spent in hell from the 
first moment that I offended thee. Ah! give me 
light, and make me sensible of the great evil I have 
done thee in voluntarily losing thy grace, which 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 95 

thou didst merit for me by the sacrifice of thy life 
on the cross. Ah ! rny Jesus, pardon me ; I am sor- 
ry from the bottom of my heart, and above all things, 
for having despised thee, who art infinite goodness. 
Ah ! assist me, O my Savior, that I may never lose 
thee again. Alas ! my Lord, if I return again to 
sin, after so many lights and graces which thou hast 
bestowed upon me, I should deserve a hell to be 
made on purpose for myself. Through the merits 
of that blood which thou hast shed for my sake, do 
not permit me ever more to offend thee. Give me 
holy perseverance, give me thy love. I love thee, 
and I will never cease to love thee till death. My 
God, have mercy on me for the love of Jesus Christ* 
O Mary, my hope, do thou have pity on me ; rec- 
ommend me to God ; thy recommendations are never 
rejected by that God who loves thee so tenderly. 

SECOND POINT. 

Brother, since it is certain that you shall die, go 
as soon as possible to the foot of the crucifix ; thank 
your crucified Redeemer for the time which in his 
mercy he gives you to tranquillize your conscience; 
and then take a review of all the irregularities of 
your past life, particularly of your youth. Give a 
glance at the commandments of God ; examine 
yourself on the duties of the state of life in which 
you have lived, and on the society you have frequent- 
ed ; mark down in writing the sins you have com- 
mitted ; make a general confession of your whole 
life, if you have not as yet made one. O, how 
much does a general confession contribute to regu- 
larity of life in a Christian ! Consider that you 
have to settle accounts for eternity ; and take care 
to adjust them as if you were on the point of reii- 



96 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

derinor these accounts to Jesus Christ at iudorment. 
Banish from your heart every sinful affection, and 
every sentiment of rancor ; remove every ground of 
scruple on account of the injury done to the prop- 
erty or character of others, or of scandal to your 
neighbor ; and resolve to fly from all those occasions 
in which you should be in danger of losing God. 
Remember that what nov/ seems difficult, shall ap- 
pear impossible at the hour of death. 

It is still more important for you to resolve to 
practise the means of preserving your soul in the 
grace of God. These means are, — hearing mass 
every day, the meditation of the eternal truths, the 
frequentation of the sacraments of penance and 
eucharist at least every eight days, the visit every 
day to the most holy sacrament, and to an image of 
the divine mother, attendance at her congregation, 
spiritual reading, examen of conscience every even- 
ing, some special devotion to most holy Mary, along 
with fasting every Saturday in her honor. Above 
all, resolve to recommend yourself frequently to God 
and to the Blessed Virgin, and frequently to invoke, 
in the time of temptations, the sacred names of 
Jesus and Mary. These are the names by which 
you shall be able to secure a happy death, and to 
obtain eternal life. 

The practice of these means shall be for you a 
great sign of your predestination. And as to the 
past, trust in the blood of Jesus Christ, who now 
gives you these lights, because he desires your sal- 
vation ; and trust in the intercession of Mary, who 
obtains these lights for you. O, if you adopt this 
mode of life, and place great confidence in Jesus 
and Mary, what aid shall you receive from God, and 
what strength shall your soul acquire 1 Dearly be- 
loved reader, give yourself then instantly to God, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 97 

who invites you, and begin to enjoy that peace of 
which you have been hitherto deprived through 
your own fault. And what greater peace can a soul 
enjoy, than to be able to say, in going to rest at 
night, *^ Should death come this night, I hope to die 
in the grace of God " ! How happy the man who, 
amid the terrors of thunder or of earthquakes, is 
prepared to accept death with resignation, should 
God be pleased to send it ! 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah, my Lord ! with what fervor do I thank thee 
for the light which thou givest me ! I have so often 
abandoned thee and turned my back upon thee; 
but thou hast not abandoned me. Hadst thou aban- 
doned me, I should now be blind, as I have hitherto 
wished to be ; I should be obstinate in my sins, and 
should not have the desire either to renounce sin or 
to love thee. I now feel a great sorrow for having 
offended thee, a great desire to be in the state of 
grace. I feel a hatred of these accursed delights 
which have made me lose thy friendship. These 
sentiments are all graces which come from thee, and 
make me hope that thou wilt pardon and save me. 
Since, then, after all my sins, thou hast not aban- 
doned me — since thou now wishest to save me — 
behold, O Lord, I give myself entirely to thee. I am 
sorry, above all things, for having offended thee ; 
and I purpose to lose life a thousand times, rather 
than forfeit thy grace. I love thee, O my Sover- 
eign Good; I love thee, O my Jesus, who hast died 
for me ; and I hope in thy blood, that thou wilt not 
permit me to be ever again separated from thee. O 
my Jesus, I will never more lose thee. I wish to 
love thee always during life. I wish to love thee at 
death. 1 wish to love thee for all eternity. Pre- 
9 



98 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

serve me, then, O Lord, at all times, and increase 
my love for thee. This favor I ask thfougli thy 
merits. Mary, my hope, pray to Jesus for me. 

THIRD POINT. 

It is also necessary to endeavor to be at all times 
in the state in which we desire to be at death. 
'^ Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." — 
\poc. xiv. 13. St. Ambrose says, that they die 
well who, at the hour of death, are found dead to 
the world ; that is, detached from the goods from 
which death shall separate us by force. We ought, 
then, from this moment, to accept the spoliation of 
our goods, and the separation from relatives and 
from every thing in this world. Unless we do it 
voluntarily during life, we shall have to do it through 
necessity at death, but with extreme pain and great 
danger of eternal perdition. Hence St. Augustine 
says, that to settle during life all temporal matters, 
and to dispose, by will, of all the goods we shall 
have to bequeath, contribute greatly to a tranquil 
death ; because, when all worldly affairs are already 
adjusted, the soul may be entirely occupied in unit- 
ing herself with God. At that hour, we should 
think and speak only of God and of paradise. 
These last moments are too precious to be squan- 
dered in earthly thoughts. At death is completed the 
crown of the elect ; for it is then, perhaps, that they 
reap the greatest harvest of merits, by embracing, 
with resignation and love, death and all its pains. 

But the Christian who has not been in the habit 
of excitinor these sentiments during^ life, shall not 
have them at the hour of death. Hence, some de- 
vout souls, with great spiritual profit to themselves, 
are accustomed to renew, every month, after being 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 99 

at confession and communion, the protestation of 
death along with the Christian acts, imagining 
themselves at the point of death, and to be near 
their departure from this world.* Unless thou dost 
this during life, thou shalt find it very difficult to 
do it at death. In her last illness, that great ser- 
vant of God, Sister Catharine of St. Albertus, of 
the order of St. Teresa, sent forth a sigh, and said, 
'* Sisters, I do' not sigh for fear of death, for I have 
lived for twenty-five years in expectation of it ; but 
I sigh at the sight of so many deluded Christians, 
who spend their life in sin, and reduce themselves 
to the necessity of making peace with God at death, 
when I can scarcely pronounce the name of Jesus.'' 
Examine, then, O my brother, if you are now at- 
tached to any thing on this earth, to any person, to 
any honor, to your house, your money, to conver- 
sations or amusements; and reflect that you are not 
immortal. You must one day, and perhaps very 
soon, take leave of them all. Why, then, do you 
cherish any attachment to them, agd thus expose 
yourself to the risk of an unhappy death ? Offer, 
from this moment, all to God ; tell him you are 
ready to give up all things whenever he pleases to 
deprive you of them. If you wish to die with res- 
ignation, you must from this moment resign your- 
self to all the contradictions' and adversities which 
may happen to you, and musv divest yourself of all 
affections to earthly things. Imagine yourself on 
the bed of death, and you shall despise all things in 
this world. " He,'' says Jerome, *^ who always 
thinks that he is to die, easily despises all things.'* 

* In a little book, entitled " Visits to the Most Holy Sacra- 
ment," is found this protestation, containing the Christian 
acts preparatory to death. It is short, and may be read in a 
few minutes. This protestation is inserted at the end of this 
volume. 



100 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

If you have not as yet chosen a state of life, 
make choice of that state of life which you shall at 
death wish to have selected, and which shall make 
you die with greater peace. If you have already 
made choice of a state of life, do now what you 
shall at death wish to have done in that state. 
Spend every day as if it were the last of your life; 
and perform every action, every exercise of prayer, 
make every confession and communion, as if they 
were the last of your life. Imagine yourself every 
hour at the point of death, stretched on a bed, and 
that you hear that ** Prqficiscere de hoc mundo" 
which announces your departure from this world. 
O, how powerfully shall this thought assist you to 
walk in the way of God, and to detach your heart 
from this earth ! ** Blessed is that servant whom, 
when his Lord shall come, he shall find him so 
doing." — Matt. xxiv. 46. He who expects death 
every hour, shall die well, though death should 
come suddenly upon him. 

A/fECTIONS AND PrAYERS. 

Every Christian ought to be prepared to say at 
the moment the news of death shall be announced 
to him, *' Then, my God, only a few hours remain • 
during the short remainder of the present life, I wish 
to love thee to the utmost of my power, that I may 
love thee more perfectly in heaven. But little re- 
mains for me to offer to thee. I offer thee these pains, 
and the sacrifice of my life in union with the sacri- 
fice which Jesus Christ offered for me on the cross. 
Lord, the pains which I suffer are few and light, 
compared with what I have deserved : such as they 
are, I embrace them as a mark of the love which 1 
bear thee. Provided I am to love thee for eternity, 
I resign myself to all the punishments which thou 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 101 

wishest to send me in this or the next life. Chas- 
tise me as much as thou pleasest, but do not de- 
prive me of thy love. I know that, on account of 
having so often despised thy love, I deserved never 
more to love thee ; but thou canst not reject a peni- 
tent soul. I am sorry, O Sovereign Good, for hav- 
ing offended thee. I love thee with my whole 
heart, and place all ray trust in thee. Thy death, 
O my Redeemer, is my hope. To thy wounded 
hands I recommend my soul. **Into thy hands I 
commend my spirit : thou hast redeemed me, O 
Lord, the God of truth." — Ps. xxx. 6. O my 
Jesus, thou hast given thy blood for my salvation : 
do not suffer me to be separated from thee. I love 
thee, O eternal God, and hope to love thee for eter- 
nity. Mary, my mother, assisf me at the awful mo- 
ment of death. To thee I now consign my spirit ; 
to thee I recommend myself. Deliver me from 
hell. 



t 
ELEVENTH CONSIDERATION. ] 

VALUE OF TIME. 

"Son, observe the time." — Eccl. iv. 23. 

FIRST POINT. 

" Son," says the Holy Ghost, ** be careful to pre- 
serve time, which is the greatest and the most pre- 
cious gift which God can bestow upon you in this 
life.'* The very pagans knew the value of time. 
Seneca said that no price is an equivalent for it 
** Nullum temporis pretium." But the saints have 
understood its value still better. According to St 



102 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Bernardine of Sienna, a moment of time is of as 
much value as God ; because in each moment a man 
can by acts of contrition or of love, acquire the 
grace of God and eternal glory. '^ Modico tempore 
potest homo lucrari gratiam et gloriam. Tempus 
tantum valet, quantum Deus : quippe in tempore 
bene consumpto comparatur Deus.'' — Fer. quarta 
post Dom. I. quad., cap. iv. 

Time is a treasure which is found only in this 
life; it is not found in the next, either in hell or 
in heaven. In hell the damned exclaim with tears, 
** O that an hour was given to us ! " They would pay 
any price for an hour of time, in which they might 
repair their ruin ; but this hour they shall never 
have. In heaven there is no wailing; but, were 
the saints capable of weeping, all their tears should 
arise from the thought of having lost the time in 
which they could have acquired greater glory, and 
from the conviction that this time shall never again 
be given to them. A deceased Benedictine nun 
appeared in glgry to a certain person, and said that 
she was perfectly happy ; but that, if she could de- 
sire any thing, it would be to return to life, and to 
suffer pains and privations in order to merit an in- 
crease of glory. She added that, for the glory which 
corresponds to a single Ave Maria, she would be 
content to endure till the day of judgment the 
painful illness which caused her death. 

My brother, how do you spend your time? Why 
do you always defer till to-morrow what you can 
do to-day ? Remember that the time which is past 
is no longer yours; the future is not under your 
control ; you have only the present for the perform- 
ance of good works. *' Why, O miserable man,** 
says St. Bernard, " do you presume on the future, 
as if the Father had placed time in your power ? " — 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 103 

Serm. xxxviii. de Part, ^c. St. Augustine asks, 
*' Diem tenes qui horam non tenes ? " How can 
you, who are not sure of an hour, promise yourself 
to-morrow? '*If, then," says St. Teresa, " you are 
not prepared for death to-day, tremble lest you die 
an unhappy death.'' 

Affections and Prayers. r" 

O my God, I thank thee for the time which thou 
givest me to repair the disorders of my past life.- 
Were I to die at this moment, the remembrance of 
the time I have lost should be one of my greatest 
torments. Ah, my Lord, thou hast given me time 
to love thee, and I have spent it in offending thee. 
I deserve to be sent to hell from the first moment 
in which I turned my back upon thee ; but thou 
hast called me to repentance, and hast pardoned 
me. I promised to offend thee no more ; but how 
often have I returned to sin ! How often hast thou 
pardoned my ungrateful relapses ! Blessed forever 
be thy mercy. If it were not infinite, how couldst- 
thou have had so much patience with me? Who 
could have borne with me so long? O, how sorry 
do I feel for having offended so good a God ! My 
Savior, the patience alone with which thou waitest 
for me ought to enamor me of thee. Ah ! do not 
suffer me to live any longer ungrateful to the love 
thou hast had for me. Detach me from every crea- 
ture, and draw me entirely to thyself O my God, 
I will no longer dissipate the time thou givest me 
to repair the evil that I have done ; I will spend it* 
all in serving and loving thee. Give me holy per- 
severance. I love thee, O Infinite Goodness, and 
hope to love thee for eternity. I thank thee, O 
Mary; by thy advocacy thou hast obtained for me 
this time which is given to me. Assist me now, and 



104 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

ebtain for me the grace to spend it all in loving thy 
Son, my Redeemer, and in loving thee, my queen 
and my mother. 

S.ECOND POINT. 

There is nothing more precious than time ; but 
there is nothing less esteemed and more despised 
by men of the world. St. Bernardine weeps over 
their blindness. ** Nihil," he says, ** pretiosiua 

tempore, sed nihil vilius aestimatur Trans* 

eunt dies salutis, et nemo recogitat sibi perire 
diem, et numquam rediturum.** — Serm. ad Schol. 
You will see a gamester spend nights and days in 
play. If you ask him what he is doing, his answer 
is, ** I am passing the time." You shall see others 
standing several hours in the street, looking at 
those who pass by, and speaking on obscene or on 
useless subjects. If you ask them what they are 
doing, they will say, ** We are passing the time." 
Poor, blind sinners ! who lose so many days ; but 
days which never return. 

O time despised during life ! you shall be ar-» 
dently desired by worldlings at the hour of death. 
They shall then wish for another year, another 
month, another day ; but they shall not obtain it : 
they shall then be told ** that time shall be no long- 
er." — Apoc. X. 6. How much would they then 
pay for another week, or another day, to settle the 
accounts of conscience ! To obtam a single hour, 
they would, says St. Lawrence Justinian, give all 
their wealth and worldly possessions. 

Erogaret opes, honores, delicias pro una horula." 
— De Vita Sol., cap. x. But this hour shall not be 
given. The assisting priest shall say to the dying 
sinner, Hasten, hasten your departure from this 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 105 

world; for your time is no more. ^^ Prqficiscere^ 
anima Christiana^ de hoc rmindoJ^ 

The prophet exhorts us to remember God, and 
to procure his friendship, before the light fails. 
*' Remember thy Creator .... before the sun and 
\he light be darkened." — Eccl. xii. 1. How great 
ihe distress and misery of a traveller who, when 
the night has come, perceives that he has missed 
\he way, and that there is no time to correct the 
mistake ! Such at death shall be the anguish of the 
Christian who has lived many years in the world, 
and has not spent them for God. ** The night 
Cometh, when no man can work." — John ix. 4. 
For him, death shall be the night in which he shall 
be able to do nothing. " He hath called against 
me the time." — Lamen. i. 15. Conscience shall 
then remind the worldling of all the time which 
God gave him, and which he has spent in the de- 
struction of his soul ; of all the calls and graces 
which he has received from God for his sanctifica- 
tion, and which he has voluntarily abused. The 
sinner shall then see that the way of salvation is 
closed forever. Hence he shall weep, and say, " O 
fool that I have been! O time lost! O life mis- 
spent ! O lost years, in which I could have, but have 
not, become a saint ! And now the time of salva- 
tion is gone forever." But of what use are these 
sighs and lamentations, when the scene is about to 
close, the lamp on the point of being extinguished, 
and when the dying sinner has reached that awful 
moment on which eternity depends 1 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Jesus, thou hast spent thy whole life for 
the salvation of my soul. There has not been a 
single moment of thy life, in which thou hast not 



106 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

offered thyself to the eternal Father to obtain for 
me pardon and eternal glory. I have been so many 
years in the world, and how many of them have I 
hitherto spent for thee ? Ah ! all that I remember 
to have done produces remorse of conscience. 
The evil has been great — the good very little ; 
and all full of imperfections and tepidity, of self- 
love and distractions. Ah! my Redeemer, all this 
has arisen from my forgetfulness of what thou hast 
done for me. I have forgotten thee, but thou hast 
not forgotten me ; when I fled from thee, thou hast 
followed me, and called me so often to thy love. 
Behold me, O Jesus ; I will resist no longer. Will 
I wait till thou dost abandon me? I am sorry, O 
Sovereign Good, for having separated myself from 
thee by sin. I love thee, O Infinite Goodness, 
worthy of infinite love. Ah ! do not permit me 
ever again to lose this time, which thou in thy 
mercy givest me. Ah! remind me always, O my 
beloved Savior, of the love thou hast borne me, and 
of the pains thou hast endured for me. Make me 
forget all things, that, during the remainder of my 
life, I may think only of loving and pleasing thee. 
I love thee, my. Jesus, my love, my all. I promise, 
whenever thou dost remind me, to make acts of 
love. Give me holy perseverance. I place all my 
confidence in the merits of thy blood. I also trust 
in thy intercession, O my dear mother, Mary. 

THIRD POINT. 

" Walh whilst you have lights — John xii. 35. 
We must walk in the way of the Lord during life, 
now that we have light ; ior at the hour of death 
this light is taken away. Death is not the time for 
preparing, but for finding ourselves prepared. Bi 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 107 

ye ready. At the hour of death, we can do noth- 
ing ; what is then done, is done. O God ! were a 
person told that in a short time a trial should take 
place, on which would depend his life and his en- 
tire property, with what haste would he seek an 
able advocate ! How little time would he lose in 
adopting every means of securing a favorable re- 
sult ! And what are we doing ? We know for 
certain that the most important of all causes — the 
affair of eternal salvation — shall be soon decided ; 
the decision may take place every hour, and still 
we lose time. 

Some may say, *^ I am young ; I will hereafter give 
myself to God." But remember that, as the gospel 
remarks, the Lord cursed the fig-tree the first time 
he found it without fruit, although the season for 
figs had not arrived. '* For it was not the time for 
figs." — Mark xi. 13. By this Jesus Christ wished 
to signify that men should at all times, even in youth, 
bring forth fruits of good works ; otherwise, they 
shall be accursed, and shall never more bring forth 
fruit. *^ May no man hereafter eat fruit of thee 
any more forever." — ver. 14. Such the maledic- 
tion of the Redeemer on the fruitless fig-tree; such 
his malediction against all who resist his calls. 
Satan regards the whole time of our life as short, 
and, therefore, in tempting us, he loses not a mo- 
ment. " The devil is come down unto you, hav- 
ing great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short 
time." — Apoc. xii, 12. 

Then, the devil loses no time in seeking our 
perdition ; and shall we lose the time given to us 
to secure our salvation ? 

Some will say, ** What evil am I doing ? " O 
God, is it not an evil to lose time in gaming, in use- 
less conversations, which are unprofitable to the soul 



108 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Does God give you time that you may squander it 
away? No; the Holy Ghost says, ** Defraud not 
thyself of the good day, and let not the part of a 
good gift overpass thee." — Eccl. xiv. 14. The 
workmen mentioned by St. Matthew, though they 
did no evil, but only lost time, were rebuked by 
the master of the vineyard. ** Why stand you here 
all the day idle?'' — Matt. xx. 6. On the day of 
judgment, Jesus Christ will demand an account of 
every idle word. All time which is not spent for 
God is lost time. Believe, says St. Bernard, that 
you have lost all the time in which you have not 
thought of God. ** Omne tempus quo de Deo 
non cogitasti, cogita te perdidisse." — Coll. 1, 
cap. viii. Hence the Holy Ghost says, ** What- 
soever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly ; for 
neither work nor reason shall be in hell, whither 
thou art hastening." — Eccl. ix. 10. The Vener- 
able Sister Jane, of the most holy Trinity, of the 
order of St. Teresa, used to say that in the lives 
of the saints there is no to-morrow. To-morrow 
is found in the life of sinners, who always say, 
** Hereafter, hereafter ; '' and in this state they con- 
tinue till death. ** Behold, now is the acceptable 
time." — 2 Cor. vi. 2. ** To-day, if you shall hear 
his voice, harden not your hearts." — Ps. xciv. 8. 
If God call you to-day to do good, do it; for to- 
morrow it may happen that for you time shall be 
no more, or that God shall call you no more. 

If you have hitherto spent the time in offending 
God, endeavor, like King Ezechias, to weep, during 
the remainder of your life, over your misspent 
years. "I will recount to thee all my years in the 
bitterness of my soul." — Isa. xxxviii. 15. God 
spares your life that you may repair the time you 
have lost. " Redeeming the time, for the days are 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 109 

evil." — Eph. V. 16. In explaining this passage, 
St. Anselin says, **You shall redeem the time, if 
you do wha^t you have neglected to do.'' Of St. 
Paul, St. Jerome says that, though the last of the 
apostles, he was, on account of his great labors 
after his vocation, the first in merits. ** Paulus 
novissimus in ordine, primus in meritis, quia plus 
omnibus laboravit." Let us reflect that in each 
moment of time we may acquire new treasures of 
eternal riches. Were all the land round which you 
could walk, or all the money which you could 
count in a day, promised to you, would you not 
hasten to walk over the ground, or to reckon the 
money ? In each moment you can acquire eternal 
treasures : will you, notwithstanding, squander 
away your time? Say not that what you can do 
to-day, you shall be able to do to-morrow ; for this 
day shall then be lost, and shall never return. 
When his companions spoke of the world, St. 
Francis Borgia conversed with God by holy affec- 
tions ; and so recollected was he, that, when asked 
his opinion on the subject of conversation, he knew 
not what to answer. Being corrected for this, he 
said, *' Malo rudis vocari, quam temporis jacturam 
pati." I would rather be considered stupid and 
unlearned, than lose time. 

Affections and Prayers. 
No, my God, I will no longer lose the time w^hich 
thou in thy mercy givest me. I should at this hour 
be in hell weeping without fruit. I thank thee for 
having preserved my life ; I wish, during the remain- 
der of my days, to live only for thee. Were I 
now in hell, I should weep in despair and without 
profit; I will now bewail the offences I have offered 
to thee ; and if I weep over them, I know for certain 
10 



110 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

that thou wilt pardon me. Of this the prophet as- 
sures me : " Weeping, thou shalt not weep ; he 
will surely have pity on thee." — Is. xxx. 19. Were 
I in hell, I could never more love thee ; and now I 
love thee, and hope always to love thee. Were I 
in hell, I could ask no more graces; but now I 
hear thee say, ** Ask and you shall receive.^' Since, 
then, I still have time to ask thy graces-, O God of 
my soul, I ask two graces: — give me persever- 
ance in thy grace ; give me thy love ; and then 
do with me what thou pleasest. Grant that in all 
the remaining moments of my life I may always 
recommend myself to thee, saying, ** Lord, assist 
me : have mercy on me ; grant that I may never 
more offend thee ; make me love thee.*' Most holy 
Mary, my mother, obtain for me the grace always 
to recommend myself to God, and to ask him for 
perseverance and for his holy love. 



TWELFTH CONSIDERATION. 

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF SALVATION. 

** But we entreat you, bretliren, . . * . that you do your owa 
business.'* — 1 Thess. iv. 10, 11. 

FIRST POINT. 

The business of eternal salvation is to us the 
most important of all business ; but it is also the 
most neglected by Christians. They are diligent, 
and lose no time in seeking to gain a lawsuit or 
a situation of emolument. How many measures 
taken to attain these objects I How many means 
adopted ! They neither eat nor sleep. And what 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. Ill 

efforts do they make to secure their eternal salva- 
tion ? How do they live ? To save their souls, 
the greater number of Christians do nothing ; on 
the contrary, they do every thing to bring their 
souls to perdition j they live as if death, judgment, 
hell, heaven, and eternity^ were not truths of faith, 
but fables invented by the poets. If a person lose 
a lawsuit, or a harvest crop, how great is his pain 
and distress of mind ! With what zeal does he 
labor to repair the loss ! If worldlings lose a horse, 
or a dog, with what diligence do they seek after it! 
But if they lose the grace of God, they sleep, and 
jest, and laugh. All blush at being told that they 
neglect their worldly affairs; but how ^ew are 
ashamed to neglect the business of eternity, which 
is the most important of all business. The world- 
ling says that the saints were truly wise, because 
they sought only the salvation of their souls ; and 
still he attends to all worldly business, but utterly 
neglects the concerns of the soul. Brethren, says 
St. Paul, let the great business of your eternal sal- 
vation be the sole object of all your care. This is 
to you the most important of all affairs. " Roga- 
mus vos, ut vestrum negotium agatis." Let us 
then be persuaded that eternal salvation is for us 
the most important business — the only business — 
and that, if once neglected, it is an irreparable 
business. 

It is the most important business; because, if 
the soul be lost, all is lost. We ought to set a 
higher value on the soul than all the goods of the 
earth. '* The soul,'* says St. Chrysostom, ** is 
more precious than the whole world ! " To be 
convinced of this truth, it is enough to know that 
God himself has condemned his Son to death 
in order to save our souls. "For God so loved 



112 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

the world, as to give his only-begotten Son." — 
Joan. iii. 16. The Eternal Word has not refused 
to purchase them with his own blood. "You are 
bought with a great price." — 1 Cor. vi. 20. 
Hence a holy father says, that man appears to be of 
as much value as God. *^Tam pretioso munere hu- 
mana redemptio agitur, ut homo Deum valere vide- 
atur.'* Hence Jesus Christ has asked, *^ What ex- 
change shall a man give for his soul V — Matt. xvi. 
26. If, then, such is the value of the soul, for what 
earthly good shall a man exchange and lose it ? 

St. Philip Neri had just reason to say that he 
who does not attend to the salvation of his soul, is 
a fool. Were there on this earth two classes of 
men, one mortal and the other immortal, and were 
the former to see the latter seeking after the things 
of this world, its honors, goods, and amusements, 
they should certainly exclaim, ** O fools that you 
are ! you have it in your power to acquire eter- 
nal riches ; and do you fix your thoughts on those 
miserable and transitory things? Will you, for 
these, condemn yourselves to an eternity of tor- 
ments in the next life? Leave us, for whom all 
shall end at death, to seek after these earthly 
goods." But no; we are all immortal. How, then, 
does it happen that so many lose their souls for the 
miserable pleasures of this life? How does it 
come to pass, says Salvian, that Christians believe 
in judgment, hell, and eternity, and still live as if 
they feared them not ? *' Quid causae est quod 
Christianus, si futura credit, futura non timeat?" 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah, my God ! how have I spent so many years, 
which thou hast given me in order to secure my 
eternal salvation? Thou, my Redeemer, hast 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. IIS 

purchased my soul with thy blood, and hast con- 
signed it to me that I might attend to its salvation ;, 
and I have labored only for its perdition by offend- 
ing thee, who hast loved me so tenderly. I thank 
thee for giving me time to be able to repair the 
great loss which I have suffered. I have lost my 
soul and thy grace. Lord, I am sorry with my 
whole heart for my past offences, and I resolve, 
henceforth, to lose every thing, even my life, rather 
than forfeit thy friendship. I love thee above all 
things, and I resolve always to love thee, my Sover- 
eign Good, who art worthy of infinite love. Assist 
me, my Jesus, that this purpose may not be like 
my past resolutions, to which I have been always 
unfaithful. Take me out of life rather than suffer 
me ever again to offend thee, or ever to cease to 
love thee. O Mary, my hope after Jesus, save me 
by obtaining for me holy perseverance. 

SECOND POINT. 

The business of eternal salvation is not only the 
most important, bttt it is the only business to which 
we have to attend in this life. *'Porro unum est 
necessarium.'^ One thing is necessary. St. Ber- 
nard weeps over the blindness of Christians, who 
call the occupations of children trifles, and their 
own employments business. ^^Nugae puerorum, 
nugas vocantur : nugse majorum, negotia vocantur." 
If the amusements of children be trifles, the avoca- 
tions of men are still greater follies. What, says 
the Redeemer, will it profit us to gain the whole 
world if we lose our souls? ** What doth it profit 
a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own 
jjoul!" — Matt. xvi. 26. My brother, if you save 
/our soul, it will do you no harm to have lived 
10* 



114 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

here in poverty, afflictions, and contempt; for then 
you shall have no more sorrows, and you siiaJl be 
happy for all eternity. But if you lose your soul, 
what will it profit you, in hell, to have indulged in 
all the amusements of the world, and to have en- 
joyed its riches and honors ? If the soul be lost, 
amusements, riches, and honors, are lost — all is 
lost. 

What answer shall you give on the day of ac- 
counts ? Were a king to send an ambassador to a 
city to transact some important business, and w^ere 
*the legate, instead of attending to the charge in- 
trusted to him, to spend all his time in banquets, 
comedies, and festivities, and thus injure the rights 
of his master, what account would the sovereign 
demand of him at his return? But, O God ! how 
strict must be the account which the Lord shall 
exact of him who, after being placed in this world, 
not to indulge in amusements, nor to acquire wealth 
and dignity, but to save his soul, shall have attend- 
ed to every thing except his own salvation? 
Worldlings think of the present, but not of the fu- 
ture. St. Philip Nerij conversing one day in Rome 
with Francis Zazzera, a young man of talent, who 
was attached to the world, said to him, " You shall 
realize a great fortune; you shall be a prelate, 
afterwards, perhaps, a cardinal, and, perhaps, even 
pope. But what must follow? what must follow? 
Go," said the saint, ** and meditate on these last 
words." Francis went home, and, after reflecting 
on the words. What must follow ? w^hat must fol- 
low ? he abandoned his secular pursuits, left the 
world, entered into the congregation of St. Philip, 
and began to attend only to God. 

It is our only business, because we have but one 
sou!. A prince asked, through his ambassador, a 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 115 

favor of Benedict the Twelfth, which could not be 
granted without sin. In answer, the pope said, 
" Tell the prince that if I had two souls, I might, 
perhaps, lose one of them for him, and reserve the 
other to myself; but, since I have but one, 1 can- 
not and will not lose it." St. Francis Xavier used 
to say that there is but one good and one evil in 
the world ; the former consists in the salvation of 
the soul ; the latter in her damnation. St. Teresa 
used frequently to say to her nuns, ''One soul, one 
eternity." As if she said, " One soul ; if this be 
lost, all is lost: one eternity; the soul, if lost once, 
is lost forever." Hence David said, '' One thing 
have I asked of the Lord ; this I will seek after, that 
1 may dwell in the house of the Lord." — Ps. xxvi. 
4. Lord, I ask but one favor — save my soul, and 
I ask nothing else. 

" With fear and trembling work out your salva* 
tion." — Phil. ii. 12. He that does not fear and 
tremble for his salvation shall not be saved. To 
save the soul, it is necessary to labor, and to do vi- 
olence to nature. /' The kingdom of heaven suffer- 
eth violence, and the violent bear it away." — Matt 
xi. 12. To obtain eternal glory, our life must be 
found at death conformable to the life of Jesus 
Christ. ** Praedestinavit conformes fieri imaginis 
Filii sui." — Rom. viii. 29. Hence we must be 
careful, on the one hand, to avoid the occasions of 
sin ; and, on the other, to adopt the means neces- 
sary for the attainment of eternal life. *' Regnum 
non dabitur vagantibus," says St. Bernard, '* sed 
pro servitio digne laborantibus." All would wish 
to be saved without trouble. The devil, says St, 
Augustine, sleeps not, but labors strenuously for your 
perdition; and will you slumber when your eternal 
happiness is at stake ? *' Vigilat hostis, dermis tu]** 



116 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my God, I thank ihee for making me novr 
remain at thy feet, and not in hell, which I have 
so often deserved. But of what use would the life 
which thou hast preserved, be to me, should I con- 
tinue to live without thy grace? Ah, may this 
never be. I have turned uiy back upon thee; I 
have lost thee, O my Sovereign Good ; I am sor- 
ry for it with my whole heart. O that I had died 
a thousand times, rather than have offended thee! 
I have lost thee; but the prophet tells me that thou 
art all goodness, and that thou art easily found by 
the soul that seeks thee. ** Bonus est Dominus 
animae quaBrenti ilium.'' — Thren. iii. 25. If I have 
hitherto fled away from thee, I now seek thee, and 
seek nothing but thee. I love thee with all the 
affections of my heart. Accept me. Do not dis- 
dain to give thy love to a soul that hath at one 
time despised thee. ** Doce me facere vohmtatem 
tuam." Teach me what I must do in order to 
please thee; I am ready and willing to do it. Ah, 
my Jesus, save this soul, for which thou hast given 
thy blood and thy life; and in order to save me, 
give me the grace always to love thee in this and 
in the next life. This grace I hope for through 
thy merits. For this I also hope, O Mary, through 
thy intercession. 

THIRD POINT. 

Important business ! only business ! irreparable 
business! " Sane supra omnem errorem est," says 
St. Eucherius, " dissimulare negotium EBternse sa- 
^utis." No error can be compared to the error of 
neglecting eternal salvation. For all other errors 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 117 

there is a remedy; if you lose property in one way, 
you may recover it in another; if you lose a situa- 
tion, there may be some means of afterwards re- 
gaining it ; if you soon lose your life, provided your 
soul be saved, all is safe. But if you lose your 
8oul, the loss is irreparable. Death happens but 
once ; the soul, if once lost, is lost forever. '' Peri- 
isse semel eeternum est." Nothing remains but to 
weep for eternity with the other miserable fools in 
hell, where their greatest torment consists in the 
conviction, that the time of repairing their ruin is 
gone f )rever. ** The summer is over, and we are 
not saved.'' — Jer. viii. 20. Ask the worldly wise, 
who are now in the pit of fire, what are their pres- 
ent sentiments : ask them if, now that they are con- 
demned to that eternal prison, they feel happy at 
having made a fortune in this life. Listen to 
their wailing and lamentation — *' Therefore we have 
erred." But of what use is it to know their error, 
now that there is no remedy for their eternal dam- 
nation? Should a man who could have preserved 
his pell ace at a small expense, find it in ruins, how 
great should be his pain in reflecting on his own 
negligence, and on the impossibility of repairing the 
evil ! 

The greatest torment of the damned consists in 
the thought of having lost their soul, and of being 
damned, through their own fault. *' Destruction is 
thy own, O Israel ; thy help is only in me." — Osee 
xiii. 9. St. Teresa says, that if a person lose, through 
his own fault, a ring, or even a trifle, his peace is 
disturbed, he neither eats nor sleeps. O God ! how 
great shall be the torture of the damned Christian, 
when, on entering hell and finding himself shut up 
in that dungeon of torments, he shall reflect on his 
misfortune, and shall see that for all eternity there 



118 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

shall be no relief, no mitigation of pain ! He shall 
uay, "I have lost my soul, paradise, and God; I 
have lost all forever ! And why ? Through my 
own fault." 

But you will say, *^If I commit this sin, why 
should I not expect to escape damnation ? I may still 
be saved." Yes, but you may also be damned ; and it 
is more likely that you shall be lost, for the Scriptures 
menace eternal woes to all obstinate traitors, such as 
you are in your present dispositions. '' Woe to you, 
apostate children, saith the Lord." — Isa. xxx. 1. 
^' Woe to them, for they have departed from me." — 
Osee vii. 13. By committing this sin, you at least 
expose your eternal salvation to great danger. And 
is this an affair to be exposed to risk ? There is 
not a question of a house, of a villa, or of a situation ; 
there is a question, says St. John Chrysostom, of 
being sent into an eternity of torments, and of los- 
ing an eternity of glory. *'De immortalibus sup- 
pliciis, de coelestis regni amissione agitur." And 
will you risk on a jjerhaps, this business of sove- 
reign importance? 

You say, " Perhaps I shall not be lost; I hope 
that God will hereafter pardon me." But what 
happens in the mean time? You condemn yourself 
to hell. Tell me, would you cast yourself into a 
deep pool of water, saying, ** Perhaps 1 shall not be 
drowned ? " Surely you w^ould not ; why, then, 
should you trust your eternal salvation to such a 
groundless hope, to a perhaps 1 O, how many has 
this accursed hope sent to hell ! Do you not know 
that the hope of those who are obstinately deter- 
mined to commit sin, is not hope, but an illusion 
and presumption, which moves God not to mercy^ 
but to greater wrath ? If you say that you are now 
unable to resist the temptation and passion to w^hose 



freparation for death. 119 

domination you submit, how will you resist them 
hereafter, when, by yielding to sin, your strength 
shall be not increased, but greatly diminished ? 
For, on the one hand, your own malice shall render 
you more blind and obdurate; and, on the other, 
the divine helps shall be withheld. Do you expect 
that the more you will multiply sins and insults 
against God, the more abundantly he will pour up- 
on you his lights and graces ? 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Jesus, remind me always of the death 
thou hast suffered for me, and give me confidence. 
I tremble lest the devil should make me despair at 
death by bringing before my view the many acts 
of treason I have committed against thee. How 
many promises have I made never more to offend 
thee after the light thou hast given me ! and, after 
all my promises, I have, with the hope of pardon, 
again turned my back upon thee. Then have I 
insulted thee because thou didst not chastise me ? 
My Redeemer, give me a great sorrow for my sins 
before I leave this world. I am sorry, O Sovereign 
Good, for having offended thee. I promise to die 
a thousand times, rather than ever abandon thee. 
But make me in the mean time feel that thou hast 
said to me w^hatthou saidstto Magdalene, — '* Tliy 
sins are forgiven thee,^^ — by giving me, before death, 
a great sorrow for all my iniquities, otherwise I 
fear my death shall be troubled and unhappy. 
** Be not thou a terror to me ; thou art my hope in 
the day of affliction." — Jer. xvii. 17. O my 
crucified Jesus, be not a terror to me in my last 
moments. If I die before I shall have wept over 
my sins, and shall have loved thee, thy wounds and 
thy blood shall inspire me with fear, rather than 



120 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

with confidence. I do not ask of thee consolations 
and earthly goods during the remainder of my life; 
I ask of thee sorrow and love. O my dear Savior, 
hear my prayer for the sake of that love which 
made thee offer thy life in sacrifice for me on Cal- 
vary. Mary, my mother, obtain for me these 
graces, along with holy perseverance till death. 



THIRTEENTH CONSIDERATION. 



VANITY OF THE WORLD. 

** What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and 
suffer the loss of his own soul ? " — Matt. xvi. 26. 



FIRST POINT. 

An ancient philosopher, called Aristippus, was 
once shipwrecked, and lost all his goods. When 
he reached the shore, the people, through respect 
for his great learning, presented him with an equiv- 
alent of all he had lost. He wrote to his friends, 
exhorting them to imitate his example, and to seek 
only the goods which cannot be wrested from them 
by shipwreck. Now, our relatives and friends who 
are in eternity exhort us from the other world to 
attend only to the acquisition of goods w^hich even 
death cannot take from us. Death is called ''the 
day of destruction^^ — Deut. xxxii. 35. It is the 
day of destruction, because on that day we shall 
lose all the goods of this earth — its honors, riches, 
and pleasures. Hence, according to St. Ambrose,, 
we cannot call the things of this life our goods, 
because we cannot bring them with us to eternity. 
Our virtues alone accompany us to the next life, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 121 

"Non nostra sunt quae non possumus auferre no- 
biscum : sola virtus nos comitatur." 

What, then, says Jesus Christ, does it profit us to 
gain the whole world, if, at death, by losing the 
soul, we lose all? Ah! how many young men has 
this great maxim sent into the cloister ! how many 
anchorets has it sent to the desert! and how many 
martyrs has it encouraged to give their life for 
Jesus Christ ! By this maxim St. Ignatius of Loyola 
drew many souls to God, particularly the soul of 
St. Francis Xavier, who was then in Paris attached 
to the things of the world. *' Francis," said the 
saint one day, "reflect that the world is a traitor, 
which promises but does not perform. And though 
it should fulfil all its promises, it can never content 
your heart. But let us grant that it did make you 
happy; how long shall this happiness last? Can 
it last longer than your life; and after death, what 
shall you take with you to eternity ? Where is 
the rich man that has ever brought v/ith him a 
piece of money, or a servant to attend him? What 
king has brought with him a shred of the purple as 
a badge of royalty ? " At these words St. Francis 
abandoned the world, followed St. Ignatius, and 
became a saint. Solomon confessed that ** what- 
soever his eyes desired, he refused them not." — 
Eccl. ii. 10. But, after having indulged in all the 
pleasures of this earth, he called all the goods of 
the world vanity of vanities. Sister Margaret of 
St. Anne, a Discalced Carmelite, and daughter of 
the emperor Rodolph the Second, used to say, 
** Of what use are kingdoms at the hour of death ? " 
The saints tremb'e at the thought of the uncertain^ 
ty of their eternal salvation. Father Paul Segneri 
trembled, and, full of terror, said to his confessor, 
** Father, what do you think — shall I be saved?" 
11 



mi 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



St. Andrew Avellino trembled, and, with a torrent 
of tears, said, ** Who knows whether I shall be 
saved or lost ? " St. Lewis Bertrand was so much 
terrified by this thought, that, during the night, in a 
fit of terror, he sprung out of his bed, saying, *' Per- 
haps I shall be lost ! " And sinners, while they live 
in a state of damnation, sleep, and jest, and laugh I 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah, Jesus, my Redeemer, I thank thee for mak- 
ing me see my folly and the evil I have done in 
turning my back on thee, who hast given thy blood 
and thy life for me. Thou didst not deserve to be 
treated by me as I have treated thee. Behold ! if 
death now came upon me, what should I find but 
sins and remorses of conscience, which would make 
me die with great disquietude? My Savior, I con- 
fess that I have done evil, and committed a great 
error in leaving thee, my Sovereign Good, for the 
miserable pleasures of this world. I am sorry from 
the bottom of my heart. Ah ! through the sorrow 
which killed thee on the cross, give me a sorrow 
for my sins, which shall make me weep, during the 
remainder of my life, over the injuries I have done 
thee. My Jesus, pardon me ; I promise to dis^ 
please thee no more, and to love thee forever. I 
am not worthy of thy love, which I have hitherto so 
much despised. But thou hast said, ** I love them 
that love me.'' — Prov. viii. I love thee ; love me, 
then, O Lord. I do not wish to be any longer in 
enmity with thee. I renounce all the grandeurs 
and pleasures of the world, provided thou lovest 
me. Hear me, O my God, for the love of Jesus 
Christ. He entreats thee not to banish me frora 
diy heart. To thee I consecrate my whole being ; 
to thee I consecrate my life, my pleasures, my 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 123 

senses, my soul, my body, my will, and my liberty. 
Accept me ; reject not my offering, as I have de- 
served for having so often refused thy friendship. 
Cast me not away from thy face. Most holy Vir- 
gin, my mother, Mary, pray to Jesus for me. In 
your intercession I place unbounded confidence. 

SECOND POINT. 

** There is a deceitful balance in his hand.'' — 
Osee xii. 7. We must weigh things in the balance 
of God, and not in the deceitful balance of the 
world. The goods of this life are miserable goods ; 
they do not content the heart ; they soon end. 
*' My days have been swifter than a post : they have 
passed by as ships carrying fruits.'' — Job ix. 25, 
26. The days of our life pass and fly away : and 
of all the pleasures of this earth, what remains 1 
They have passed like a ship, which leaves no 
trace behind. *' As a ship thatpasseth through the 
waters, whereof, when it is gone by, the trace can- 
not be found." — Wis. v. 10. Askso many of the 
rich and learned of the world, so many princes and 
emperors who are now in eternity, what they pos- 
sess of all the pomps, and delights, and grandeur, 
which they enjoyed in this life. They all answer 
" Nothing, nothing." O man, says St. Augustine, 
*^ you attend to what he had here ; hut attend to what 
he brings with himJ' — Serm. xiii. de Adv. Dom. 
*' You," says the saint, ^* regard only the goods which 
the rich man possessed ; but observe what he takes 
with him at death — a fetid body and a rag of a 
garment to rot with him." 

After death, the grandees of the world are spoken 
of for a little ; but they are soon forgotten. '* Their 
memory hath perished with a noise." — Ps. ix. 7 



124 I*REPAIIATI0N FOR DEATH. 

And if they have gone to hell, what do they do 
and sny in that place of woe ? They weep and 
say, *' What hath pride profited us? or what ad- 
vantage hath the boasting of riches brought us ? 
All those things are passed away like a shadow." — 
Wis. V. 8, 9. What have our pomps and riches 
profited us, now that they are passed away like a 
shadow, and for us nothing remains but eternal 
torments, wailing, and despair ? 

'*The children of this world are wiser in their 
generation than the children of light." — Luke xvi. 
8. How prudent are worldlings in earthly affairs 1 
What toils do they endure in order to obtain a situa* 
tion or to acquire an estate ! With what care do 
they attend to the preservation of bodily health ! 
They adopt the safest means, they^select the best 
physicians, the best remedies, and the purest air. 
But how careless are they about the concerns of 
the soul ! And it is certain that health, situations, 
and possessions shall one day end ; but the soul and 
eternity are everlasting. ** Intueamur," says St. 
Augustine, ** quanta homines sustineant pro rebus 
quas vitiose diligunt." What do not the unjust, 
the vindictive, and voluptuous endure in order to 
attain their' wicked objects? And will they refuse 
to suffer any thing for the soul ? O God I at the 
light of the death-candle, at that time of truth, 
worldlings know and confess their folly. Then 
they say, '' O that I had left the world, and led a 
life of sanctity." Pope Leo the Eleventh said at the 
hour of death, ^^ It ivere better for me to have been 
porter in my convent^ than to be pojpeJ* Honorius 
the Third also said in his last illness, ^' It would have 
been better for me to have remained in the kitchen of 
my monastery to wash the plates^ than to be chosen 
bead of the church,^^ In his dying moments, Philip 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 125 

the Second, king of Spain, sent for his son, and 
throwing off his royal robes, showed him his breast 
eaten away by worms, and said to him, ** Prince, 
behold how we die, and how the grandeurs of this 
world end. O," he exclaimed, " that I had been 
a lay brother in some religious community, and had 
not been king." He then ordered a cross to be 
fastened to his neck by means of a cord, and hav- 
ing made all his arrangements for death, he said 
to his son,'* I wished you to be present at this 
scene, that you may see how the w^orld treats raon- 
archs in the end. Their death is like that of the 
poorest peasant. In fine, he who leads the most 
holy life is in the greatest favor with God." This 
same son, who was afterwards Philip the Third, 
dying at the age of forty-three years, said, *' My 
subjects, in the sermon to be delivered at my 
funeral, preach nothing but this spectacle which 
you behold ; say that to have been king serves at 
death to excite regret and pain." He then ex- 
claimed, *' O that I had never been a king. O 
that I had lived in a desert to serve God. I 
should now go with greater confidence to present 
myself at his tribunal, and should not now find my- 
self in so much dancrer of beinor damned forever." 
But these desires at the hour of death serve only to 
increase the anguish and despair of those who have 
not loved God. ''Then," says St. Teresa, " we 
should make no account of what ends with 
life; the true life consists in living in such a man- 
ner as not to have any reason to fear death." If, 
then, we wish to seek the true value of earthly 
things, let us look at them from the bed of death, 
and say. These honors, these amusements, these 
revenues shall one day have an end; we ought thea 
to labor to become saints, and rich in goods which 
11* 



126 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

shall accompany us to the other world, and shall 
make us content and happy for all eternity. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Redeemer, thou hast suffered so many 
pains and ignominies for my sake; and I have 
loved the pleasures and vanities of this earth to such 
an excess, that, for the sake of them, I have often 
trampled on thy grace. But, since thou didst not 
cease to seek after me when I despised thee, I can- 
not, O my Jesus, fear that thou wilt now cast me 
a^ay, when I seek and love thee with my w^hole 
heart, and am more sorry for having offended thee 
than I should be for having suffered every other 
misfortune. O God of my soul, from this day for- 
ward I wish never to offend thee, even by a venial 
thought. Make known to me what is displeasing 
to thee. I will not, for any earthly good, do what I 
know to be offensive to thee. Make known to me 
what I must do in order to please thee. I am ready 
to do it. I wish to love thee with a true love. I 
embrace, O Lord, all the pains and crosses which 
shall come to me from thy hands ; give me the res- 
ignation I stand in need of: here burn^ here cut. 
Chastise me in this life, that in the next I may be 
able to love thee for eternity. Mary, my mother, to 
you I recommend my soul ; do not ever cease to 
pray to Jesus for me. 

THIRD POINT. 

" The time is short; it remaineth that .... they 
that use this world, he as if they used it not ; for 
the fashion of this world passeth away." — 1 Cor 
vii. 29, 31. What is our life on this earth but a 
scene, which passes away and ends very soon ? Th§ 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 127 

fashion of this world passeth away. The world, 
Bays Cornelius a Lapide, is like a stage; one gener- 
ation passes away, another comes. He who acts 
the part of a king, takes not the purple with him. 
Tell me, O villi, O house, how many masters have 
you had? When the comedy is over, the king is 
no longer king; the master ceases to be master. 
You at present are in possession of such a villa and 
palace ; but death shall come, and they shall pass 
to other u] jsters. 

** The affliction of an hour maketh one forget 
great delights." — Eccl. xi. 29. The gloomy hour 
of death brings to an end and makes us forget all 
the grandeur, nobility, and pomps of the world. 
Casimir, king of Poland, while he sat at table with 
the grandees of his kingdom, died in the act of 
raising a cup to take a draught ; and the scene 
ended for him. In seven days after his election, 
the e:np8ror Celsus was killed, and the scene closed 
for Celsus. Lidislaus, king of Poland, in his 
eighteenth year, while he v/as preparing for the re- 
ception of his spouse, the daughter of the king of 
France, was suddenly seized with a violent pain, 
which soon deprived him of life. Couriers were 
instantly despatched to announce to her that the 
scene was over for Ladislaus, and that she might 
return to France. By meditating on the vanity of 
the world, Francis Borgia became a saint. At the 
Bight of the empress Isabella, who had died in the 
midst of worldly grandeur and in the flower of 
youth, he, as has been already said, resolved to give 
himself entirely to God. ** Thus, then," he said, 
** end the grandeur and crowns of this world ; I 
will henceforth serve a Master who can never die." 

Let us endeavor to live in such a manner that what 
was said to the fool in the gospel may not be said 



128 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

to US at the hour of death, — **Thou fool, this night 
do they require thy soul of thee ; and whose shall 
those things be which thou hast provided ? " — Luke 
xii. 20. Hence the Redeemer adds, *' So is he 
that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich 
towards God.'' — ver. 21. Again he tells you to 
acquire the riches, not of the world, but of God ; — 
of virtues and merits, which are goods that shall re- 
main with you for eternity in heaven. *' Lay up to 
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither the 
rust nor the moth doth consume." — M:itt. vi. 20. 
Let us then labor to acquire the great treasure of 
divine love. '' What," says St. Augustine, *^ has 
the rich man, if he has not charity ? What does 
the poor man want, if he has charity ? " If a man 
had all the riches in the world, and has not God, he 
is the poorest of men. But the poor man who pos- 
sesses God possesses all things. And who are they 
that possess God? ^' He," says St. John, ** that 
abideth in charity, abideth in God, and God in him." 
— 1 John iv. 16. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my God, I do not wish that the devil have 
any longer dominion over my soul ; I wish that thou 
alone be the Lord and Master of it. I will renounce 
all things in order to acquire thy grace. I esteem 
it more than a thousand thrones and a thousand 
kingdoms. And whom shall I love but thee, who 
art infinitely amiable, who art an infinite good, in- 
finite beauty, bounty, and love? Hitherto I have 
abandoned thee for the sake of creatures ; this is, 
and always shall be, to me a source of sorrow, 
which will pierce my heart with grief for having 
offended thee, who hast loved me with so much ten- 
derness. But since thou hast favored me with sq 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 129 

many graces, I can no longer bear to see myself 
without thy love. O my Love, take possession of 
my whole will, and of all that I possess, and do 
with me what thou pleasest. If I have hitherto been 
impatient under adversity, I ask pardon. O my 
Lord, I will never complain of thy arrangements; I 
know that they are all holy, all for my welfare. 
Treat me, O my God, as thou wishest; I promise 
to be always content, always to thank thee. Make 
me love thee, and I ask no more. What goods, 
what honors, what world can I love ? O God ! O 
God! I wish only for God. Happy thee, O Mary, 
who loved nothing in the w^orld but God. Obtain 
for me the grace to imitate thee, at least during the 
remainder of my life. Li thee I trust. 



FOURTEENTH CONSIDERATION. 

THE PRESENT LIFE IS A JOURNEY TO 
ETERNITY. 

•* Man shall go into the house of his eternity." — Eccl. xii. 5. 
FIRST POINT. 

Seeing that on this earth so many miscreants 
wallow in prosperity, and that so many saints live 
in tribuhtions, the very Gentiles, by the sole aid of 
the light of nature, have known this truth — that, 
since there is a just God, there must be another 
life, in which the wicked are punished and the 
good rewarded. But what the Gentiles learned by 
the light of reason, we Christians know by faith. 
" We have not here a lasting city ; but we seek one 



130 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

that is to come." — Heb. xiv. 14. This earth is 
not our country ; it is for us a place of passage, from 
which we shall soon go to the house of eternity. 
*' Man shall go into the house of his eternity." The 
house, then, dear reader, which you inhabit, is not 
your house; it is a hospital, from which you shall 
8oon, and when you least expect, be dislodged. Re- 
member that, when the time of death shall have ar- 
rived, your dearest relatives will be the first to ban- 
ish you from it. And what shall be your true 
house ? The house of your body shall be a grave, 
in which it will remain till the day of judgment; 
but your soul shall go to the house of eternity — 
either to heaven or to helT. St. Augustine tells you 
that you are a stranger, a traveller, a i^pectator, 
** Hospes eSf transis et vides.^^ It would be foolish- 
ness in a traveller to spend all his patrimony in pur- 
chasing a villa or a house in a country through 
which he merely passes, and which he must leave in 
a few days. ** Reflect," says the saint, " that in this 
world you are only on a journey ; fix not your affec- 
tions on what you see; look and pass on, and labor to 
procure a good house, in which you shall have to 
dwell forever." 

Happy you, if you save your soul ! O, how de- 
lightful is heaven ! All the princely palaces of this 
world are but stables compared with the city of par- 
adise, which alone can be called the city of perfect 
beauty — '* civitas pafecti decorisJ^ — Ezek. xxiii. 
3. There you shall have nothing to desire ; for 
you shall be in the society of the saints, of the di- 
vine mother, and of Jesus Christ, and shall be free 
from all fear of evil ; in a word, you shall live in a 
ftea of delights, and m unceasing joy, which shall 
last forever. '* Everlasting joy shall be upon their 
heads." — Isa. xxxv. 10. This joy shall be so great^ 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 131 

that at every moment for all eternity it shall appear 
new. But unhappy you, if you are lost! You 
shall be confined in a sea of fire and of torments, 
in despair, abandoned by all, and without God. And 
for how long? Perhaps, after the lapse of a hun* 
dred thousand years, your pains shall have an end? 
A hundred and a thousand millions of years and 
ages shall pass by, and your hell shall be always at 
its commencement. What are a thousand years 
compared with eternity? Less than a day which is 
gone by. " A thousand years in thy sight are as 
yesterday, which is past." — Ps. Ixxxix. 4. Would 
you wish to know the house which shall be your 
dwelling for eternity? It shall be that which you 
merit, and which you choose for yourself by your 
works. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Then, O Lord, behold the house which I have 
deserved by the life which I led. Alas ! it is hell; 
in which, from the first sin I have committed, I 
ought to dwell, abandoned by thee, and without 
having it ever in my power to love thee. Blessed 
forever be thy mercy, which has waited for me> 
and which now gives me time to repair the evil I 
have done. O my God, I will no longer abuse thj 
patience. I am sorry above all things for having 
offended thee, not so much because 1 have merited 
hell, as because I have outraged thy infinite good- 
ness. Never more, ray God, never more will I 
rebel against thee; I desire death rather than 
offend thee. O my Sovereign Good, were I now in 
hell, I could never love thee, nor couldst thou love 
me. I love thee, and wish to be loved by thee: 
this I do not deserve ; but Jesus merits it, because 
he has offered himself to thee in sacrifice on the 



132 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

cross, that thou mightst be able to pardon and 
love me. Eternal Father, give me then, for the 
sake of thy Son, the grace to love thee, and to love 
thee intensely. I love thee, O my Father, who hast 
given me thy Son. I love thee, O Son of God, who 
hast died for me. I love thee, O mother of Jesus, 
who, by thy intercession, hast obtained for me time 
for repentance. O Mary, obtain for me sorrow for 
my sins, the love of God, and holy perseverance. 

SECOND POINT. 

** If the tree fall, to the south or to the north, in 
what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be.'' — 
Eccl. xi. 3. Wheresoever the tree of your soul 
shall fall at death, there shall it remain forever. 
There is no medium; you shall be forever a king 
in heaven, or a slave in hell; forever in bliss, in an 
ocean of delights; or forever in despair, in a pit of 
torments. In contemplating the fate of the rich glut- 
ton, who was esteemed happy in this world because 
he was rich, but was afterwards confined in hell ; and 
the condition of Lazarus, who was considered to be 
miserable because he was poor, but was afterwards 
raised to the glory of heaven ; St. John Chrysostom 
exclaimed, O unhappy felicity, which dragged the 
rich man to eternal misery ! O happy infelicity, 
which brought the poor Lazarus to the happiness 
of eternity ! '' O infelix felicitas, quae divitem ad 
aeternam infelicitatem traxit ! O felix infelicitas, 
quse pauperem ad .TBternitatis felicitatem perduxit!" 

Of what use is it to torture yourself, as some do, 
saying, ^' Who knows whether I am among the pre- 
destined or not ? " When the tree is cut down, 
where does it fall ? It falls on the side to which it 
inclines. Brother, to what side do you incline I 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 133 

What son of life do you lead ? Labor always to 
incline to the south ; preserve your soul in the 
grace of God ; fly from sin ; and thus you shall 
save your soul, and shall be predestined. And in 
order to avoid sin, keep always before your eyes the 
thought of eternity, which St. Augustine called the 
great thought. Magna cogitatio. This thought has 
led so many young men to abandon the world, and to 
live in deserts, in order to attend only to the care of 
the soul ; and they have secured eternal life. And, 
now that they are saved, they shall rejoice for all 
eternity at having sought, during life, nothing but 
the salvation of their souls. 

/ Father M. Avila converted a certain lady, who 
lived at a distance from God, by saying to her, 
"Madam, reflect on these tivo words — always and 
neverP In consequence of a thought which he 
had one day of eternity. Father Paul Segneri could 
not sleep for several nights; and from that day 
forward he gave himself up to a more rigorous life- 
Dresselius relates that a certain bishop was encour- 
aged to lead a holy life by the thought of eternity, 
and by repeating within himself, '* Omni momento 
ad ostium aeternitatis sto." / stand, every moment 
at the gate of eternity. A certain monk shut him- 
self up in a cave, and did nothing else but exclaim, 
'^ O eternity! O eternity!'' '* He," said Father 
Avila, "who believes in eternity, and does not be- 
come a saint, should be confined in a mad-house." 

Affections and Praters. 
Ah, my God, have mercy on me. I know that 
in committing sin I condemned myself to an eter* 
pity of torments ; and I have been content to resist 
thy will, and to incur this punishment. Ah, my 
Lord, pardon rne ; I am sorry for it from the 
12 



134 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

bottom of my heart. I do not wish ever more to 
oppose thy holy will. How miserable should I be, 
hadst thou taken me out of life during my career 
of sin ! I should at this moment be condemned to 
remain forever in hell, to hate thy will. But now 
I love it, and wish forever to love it. Teach me, 
and give me strength henceforth to do thy will. 
I will no longer resist thee, O Infinite Goodness I 
This grace only do I ask — ** Thy will be done on 
earth as it is in heaven.'' Enable me to do thy 
will perfectly, and I ask nothing more. And 
wtiat, O my God, dost thou desire, bat my welfare 
and my salvation? Ah, eternal Father, hear my 
prayer, for the love of Jesus Christ, who has taught 
me to pray continually to thee. In his name I ask 
this grace — Thy will be done ; thy will he done, 
Happy me, if I spend the remainder of my life, and 
if I end my days, doing thy will. O Mary, happy 
thee, who always did the will of God perfectly, ob- 
tain for me, through thy intercession, the grace to 
do his will during the remainder of my life. 

THIRD POINT. 

** Man shall go into the house of his eternity y 
The prophet says 7nan shall go, to show that each 
shall go to the house to which he wishes to go; he 
shall not be carried to it, but shall go of his own 
accord. It is certain that God wills the salvation 
of all men, but he will not save us by force. He 
has placed before each of us life and death; 
whichsoever we choose shall be given us. " That 
which he shall choose shall be given him." — EccL 
XV. 18. Jeremiah likewise says that the Lord has 
given us two ways in which to walk — one the way 
of heaven, the other the way of hell. " Behold^ 1 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 135 

Set before you the way of life and the way of 
death." — Jer. xxi. 8. The choice rests with us. 
But how shall he who wishes to walk in the way of 
hell be able to reach heaven ? All sinners wish 
for salvation, and in the mean time they, by their 
own choice, condemn themselves to hell, with the 
hope of being afterwards saved. But who, says 
St. Augustine, can be found so foolish as to take 
poison with the hope of escaping death? ** Nemo 
vult aegrotare sub spe salutis." And still so many 
Christians, so many fools, kill their souls by sin, 
saying, ** I will hereafter think of a remedy." O de- 
lusion, which has sent so many souls to hell ! Let 
us not be so foolish; let us reflect that eternity is 
at stake. In erecting a house in which he ex- 
pects to live for the remainder of his life, a man 
spares no trouble in seeking a healthful site, and 
submits to great toil and fatigue in endeavoring 
to make the house commodious and airy. And why 
are men so careless when there is question of the 
house in which they must dwell for eternity? 
** Negotium pro quo contendimus," says St. Euche- 
rius, *^ aeternitas est." The business for which 
we labor is eternity ; there is not question of a 
house more or less commodious, more or less airy ; 
but there is question of being in a place full of de- 
lights, among the friends of God, or in a pit of tor- 
ments, in the midst of an infamous crowd of 
abandoned miscreants. And for how long ? Not 
for twenty nor forty years, but for all eternity. 
This is a great point ; it is not a business of little 
moment; it is an affair of infinite importance. 
When Thomas More was condemned to die by 
Henry the Eighth, his wife, Louisa, went to him for 
the purpose of prevailing on him to yield to the 
wishes of the king. He said to her, '* Tell m^ 



136 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Louisa, how many years could T, who am now so old, 
expect to live?'* ** You might," replied Louisa, 
^* live for twenty years more." ** O foolish wo- 
man," rejoined the holy man, *' do you want me, 
for twenty years of life on this earth, to forfeit an 
eternity of happiness, and to condemn myself to an 
eternity of torments ? " 

O God, give me light. If eternity were a doubt- 
ful matter, or only resting on a probable opinion^ 
we ought to make every effort in our power to lead 
a good life, lest, should the doctrine of eternity be 
true, we should expose ourselves to the danger of 
being eternally miserable ; but it is not doubtful, 
but infallibly certain; not a mere opinion, but a 
truth of faith. ^^Man shall go into the house of 
his eternity." *'Alas!" says St. Teresa, '' the 
want of faith is the cause of so many sins, and of 
the damnation of so many Christians." Let us 
then always enliven our faith, saying, **I believe 
in life everlasting." I believe that after this life 
there is another, which never ends. And with this 
thought always before our eyes, let us adopt the 
means of securing eternal salvation. Let us fre- 
quent the sacraments ; let us make meditation 
every day ; and let us reflect on eternal life ; let us 
fly from dangerous occasions; and, if necessary, 
let us leave the world ; for, to make ourselves sure 
of eternal life, no security can be too great 
** Nulla nimia securitas ubi periclitatur aeternitas." 
— St. Bernard. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Then, my God, there is no medium ; I must be 

forever happy, or forever miserable ; either in a sea 

of joys, or in a sea of torments ; either forever with 

thee in heaven, or forever separated at a distance 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 137 

from thee in hell. And this hell I know for cer- 
tain that I have so often deserved ; but I also know 
for certain that thou dost pardon all who repent, 
and that thou rescuest from hell all who hope in 
thee. Of this thou assurest me — *' He shall cry 
to me .... I will pardon him, and will glorify him.'* 
— -Ps. xc. 15. Pardon me then, O Lord; pardon 
me immediately, and deliver me from hell. O Sov- 
ereign Good, I am sorry above all things for having 
offended thee. Restore to me thy grace as soon as 
possible, and give me thy holy love. Were I now 
in hell, I could never more love thee ; I should 
have to hate thee forever. Ah, my God, what evil 
hast thou done to me, that I should hate thee? 
Thou hast loved me unto death. Thou art worthy 
of infinite love. O Lord, do not permit me to be 
ever separated from thee. I love thee, and will 
ahvays love thee. ** Who shall separate me from 
the charity of Christ ? " Ah, my Jesus, sin alone 
can separate me from thee. Ah ! through the 
blood which thou hast shed for me, do not permit 
me to be ever separated from thee. Strike me 
dead rather than suffer me to lose thy love. ^' Do 
not permit me to be separated from thee." Mary, 
my queen and my mother, assist me by thy prayers; 
obtain for me death and a thousand deaths, rather 
than that I should be separated from the love of thy 
Son. 



12 ♦ 



138 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

FIFTEENTH CONSIDERATION. 

ON THE MALICE OF MORTAL SIN. 

•*I have brought up children find exalted them; but they 
have despised me." — Isa. i. 2. 

FIRST POINT. 

What does the sinner do when he commits mor- 
tal sin? He insults God, he dishonors him, he 
afflicts him. In the first place, mortal sin is an 
insult offered to God. The malice of an insult 
is, as St. Thomas says, estimated from the condi- 
tion of the person who receives and of the per- 
son Wiio offers the insult. It is sinful to offend 
a peasant; it is more criminal to insult a noble- 
man: but to treat a monarch with contempt and 
insolence, is a still greater* crime. Who is God? 
** He is Lord of lords and king of kings.'' — 
Apoc. xvii. 14. He is a Being of infinite majesty, 
before whom all tiie princes of the earth, and all 
the saints and angels, are less than an atom of sand. 
** As a drop of a bucket .... as a little dust." — 
Isa. xl. 15. The prophet Osee adds, that, compared 
with the greatness of God, all creatures are as in- 
significant as if they did not exist. ** All nations/* 
he says, ** are before him as if they had no being 
at all." — ver. 17. Such is God; and what is 
man ? He is, according to St. Bernard, a heap of 
worms, the food of worms, by which he shall be 
soon devoured. **Saccus vermium, cibus vermi- 
um." He is ** miserable, and poor, and blind, and 
naked." — Apoc. iii. 17. Man is a miserable worm, 
that can do nothing ; he is so blind that he knows 
nothing, and so poor and naked that he possesses 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



13§ 



nothing. And this miserable worm voluntarily in- 
sults a God ! ** Vile dust," says the same St. Ber- 
nard, ** dares to provoke such tremendous majesty." 
The angelic doctor, then, had just reason to say 
that the sin of man contains, as it were, an infinite 
malice. ** Peccatum habet quandam infinitatem 
malitiae ex infinitate divinae majestatis." — P. 3, q. 
2, c. 2, ad. 2. And St. Augustine calls sin *' an 
infinite evil." Hence, were all men and angels to 
offer themselves to death and annihilation, the obla- 
tion should not satisfy for a single sin. God pun- 
ishes sin with the pains of hell ; but all theolo- 
gians teach that this chastisement is less than sin 
deserves. 

And what punishment can be sufficient for a 
w^orm who assails his Lord ? God is the Lord of 
all, because he has created all. ** All things are ia 
thy power. . . . Thou havSt made heaven, and earth, 
and all things." — -Est. xiii. 9. All creatures obey 
God, **The winds," says St. Matthew, '*and the 
sea obey him." — Matt. viii. 27. "Fire, hail, 
snow, ice, stormy winds, which fulfil his will." — 
Ps. cxlviii. 8. But when man sins, what does he 
do ? He says to God, Lord, I will not serve thee. 
** Thou hast broken my yoke; ihou hast burst my 
bonds ; thou saidst, I will not serve." — Jer. ii. 
20. The Lord says to him, Seek not revenge ; 
take not that property which belongs to another; 
abstain from that unchaste gratification. But man 
answers, I will have revenge ; I will take posses- 
sion of that property ; I will indulge in that forbid- 
den pleasure. Like Pharaoh, when Moses, on the 
part of God, commanded him to allow the people to 
go into the desert, the sinner answers, ** Who is 
the Lord, that I should hear his voice, and let 
Israel goT' — Exod. v. 2. The sinner says the 



140 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

same — Lord, I know you not; I will do what I 
please. In a word, he insults the Lord to his face, 
and turns his back upon him. Mortal sin is pre- 
cisely a turning away from God. *' Aversio ab in- 
commutabili bono." — St. Thom. part i. q. 24, art. 
4. Of this the Lord himself complains — *' Thou 
hast forsaken me, saith the Lord ; thou art gone 
backward.'* — Jer. xv. 6. You have, says God, 
been ungrateful to me ; you have abandoned me ; 
you have turned your back upon me ; you " are 
gone hackward.^^ God has declared that he hates 
sin. Hence he cannot but hate the sinner who 
commits it. ** But to God the wicked and his 
wickedness are hateful alike." Wis. xiv. 9. In 
committing sin, man dares to declare himself the 
enemy of God, and to contend single-handed with 
the Lord. *' He hath," says Job, ** strengthened 
himself against the Almighty." — Job xv. 25. 
What would you say if you saw an insect attack an 
armed soldier ? God is the Omnipotent Being who 
by a nod has " created heaven and earth out of 
nothing." — 2 Mach. vii. 28. And if he wish, he 
can, by another act of his will, destroy all creatures. 
"The almighty Lord, who, at a beck, can utterly 
destroy .... the whole world." — 2 Mach. viii. 18. 
In consenting to sin, the sinner stretches out his 
arms against the Lord. ** He hath," says Job, 
*' stretched out his hand aorainst God. He hath run 
against him with his neck raised up, and is armed 
with ^ fat neck.'' — Job xv. 26. He raises his 
neck, that is, he swells with pride, and runs to in- 
sult God ; he arms himself with a fat neck, that is, 
with ignorance ; for a fat neck is the symbol of 
ignorance, of that ignorance which makes the 
sinner say. What harm have I done? What 
great evil is that sin which 1 have committed? God 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 141 

is merciful — he pardons sinners. What an insult ! 
What temerity ! What blindness ! 

Affections and Prayers. 

Behold, O my God ! at thy feet the rash and dar- 
ing rebel, who has had the temerity and audacity to 
insult thee so often to thy very face, and to turn his 
back upon thee. Thou hast said, " Cry to me, 
and 1 will hear." — Jer. xxxiii. 3. Hell is too little 
for me ; this I already know. But remember, O Lord, 
that I am more sorry for having offended thee, who 
art infinite goodness, than I would be for the loss of 
all my property and of my life. Ah, Lord, pardon 
me, and do not permit me ever to offend thee more. 
Thou hast waited for me that I may forever bless 
thy mercy and love thee. Yes, I bless thee, I love 
thee, and I hope, through the merits of Jesus Christ, 
that I shall never again be separated from thy love; 
thy love has rescued me from hell ; it is by thy love 
that I am to be preserved from sin for the future. 
I thank thee, my Lord, for the light. and the desire 
thou dost give me to love thee forever. Ah ! take 
possession of my whole being — of my soul and 
body — of my powers and senses — of my will and 
liberty. **I am thine — save me." Thou art my 
only good ; thou art alone amiable ; mayst thou 
also be my only love. Give me fervor in loving 
thee. 1 have offended thee grievously. Hence it 
is not enough for me to love thee; I wish to love 
thee ardently, in order to compensate the injuries I 
have done thee. From thee, who art omnipotent, I 
hope for this love. I also hope for it through thy 
prayers, O Mary, which art powerful before God. 



142 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

SECOND POINT. 

The sinner not only insults, but he also dishonors 
God. " By the transgression of the law thou dis- 
honorest God." — Rom. ii. 23. Yes; for he re- 
nounces God's grace, and for a miserable pleasure 
he tramples on the friendship of God. Were man 
to forfeit the divine friendship, in order to gain a 
kmgdom, or even the entire world, he should do a 
great evil ; for the friendship of God is more val- 
uable than the world, and even a thousand worlds. 
But for what does the sinner insult the Lord? 
** Wherefore hath the wicked provoked God?" — - 
Ps. X. 13. For a little earth, for the gratification of 
revenge, for a beastly pleasure, for the indulgence 
of vanity or caprice. ** They violated me among 
my people for a handful of barley and a piece of 
bread." — Ez. xiii. 19. When the sinner deliber- 
ates whether he will give or refuse his consent to 
sin, he, as it were, takes in his hand a balance, and 
examines whether the grace of God has more or less 
weight than indulgence of his passion, vanity, of 
pleasure; and when he consents to sin, he declares 
that his passion, vanity, or pleasure, is of greater 
value than the friendship of God. Behold the Lord 
covered with shame by the sinner ! Contemplating 
the greatness and majesty of God, David said, 
'' Lord, who is like to thee?" — Ps. xxxiv. 10. But 
seeing sinners compare and prefer a miserable grat- 
ification to his friendship, the Lord exclaimed, ** To 
whom have you likened me, or made me equal?" — 
Isa. xl. 25. Then, he says, was that vile pleasure 
of greater value than my grace? *' Thou hast cast 
me off behind thy back." — Ez. xxiii. 35. Were 
you to forfeit a hand, or ten ducats, or even a much 
smaller sum, you would not have committed that 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 14^ 

sin. Then, says Salvian, is God alone so contemp- 
tible in your eyes, that he deserves to be despised 
for the indulgence of a passion, or for a miserable 
satisfaction ? ** Deus solus in comparatione omni- 
um tibi vilis fuit." 

Moreover, by offending God for the sake of his 
pleasure, the sinner makes that pleasure his god, by 
making it his last end. St. Jerome says, " Unus- 
quisque quod cupit, si veneratur, hoc illi Deus 
est : vitium in corde est idolum in altari.'* What 
a person desires, if he worships it, is to him a god. 
A vice in the heart is an idol on the altar. Hence 
St. Thomas says, ** If you love delights, delights 
are your god.'' And according to St. Cyprian, 
**' whatever man prefers to God, that he makes a 
god to himself" When Jeroboam rebelled against 
the Lord, he endeavored to drav/ the people with 
him into idolatry. Hence he placed before them 
his idols, saying, '* Behold thy gods, O Israel." — 
3 Kings xii. 28. It is thus the devil acts ; he rep- 
resents a certain pleasure to the sinner, and says, 
Make this your god ; behold this pleasure ; this 
revenge is your god; adhere to them, and forsake the 
Lord. And in consenting to sin, the sinner obeys 
tiie devil, and in his heart adores as his god the 
pleasure which he indulges. "A vice in the heart 
is an idol on the altar." If the sinner dishonors 
God, he surely does not dishonor him in his pres- 
ence. O, he insults and dishonors God to his very 
face; for God is present in all places. ** Do I not 
fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord." — Jer. xxiii. 
24. This sinners know, and stiil they dare to pro- 
yoke God before his eyes. ^' They provoke me to 
^nger before my face." — Isa. Ixv. 3, 



144 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



Affections and Prayers. 

Then, my God, thou art an infinite good, and I 
have frequently exchanged thee for a miserable 
pleasure, which I had scarcely indulged when it 
vanished. But thou, though despised by me, now 
offerest me pardon, if I wish for it, and thou dost 
promise to give me thy grace if I repent of having 
offended thee. Yes, my Lord, I repent with my 
whole heart of having outraged thee so grievously; 
I detest my sins above all things. Behold,! already 
return to thee, as I hope, and thou dost already re- 
ceive me, and embrace me as thy child. I thank 
thee, O infinite Goodness; but assist me now, and 
do not permit me ever again to banish thee from my 
heart. Hell shall not cease to tempt me ; but thou 
art more powerful than hell. I know that I shall 
never more abandon thee, if I always recommend 
myself to thee. The grace, then, which I ask is, 
that I may always recommend myself to thee, and 
that I may always say to thee, as I now do. Lord, 
assist me ; give me light, give me strength, give me 
perseverance, give me paradise ; but, above all, give 
me thy love, which is the true paradise of souls. I 
love thee, O infinite Goodness, and I wish always to 
love thee. Hear me for the love of Jesus Christ. 
Mary, thou art the refuge of sinners ; assist, by thy 
prayers, a sinner w^ho wishes to love thy God. 

THIRD POINT. 

The sinner insults God, he dishonors God, and 
fills the heart of God with grief and bitterness. 
There is nothing more galling than to be treated 
with ingratitude by a person tenderly loved and 
highly favored. Whom does the sinner assail ? He 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 145 

insults a God who has created him, and has loved 
him so as to give his blood and his life for his sal- 
vation ; and by committing mortal sin, he banishes 
God from his heart. God comes to dwell in the 
soul that loves him. ** If any one love me, .... 
my Father will love him, and we will come to him, 
and will make our abode with him." — John xiv. 
23. Mark the words — ice will make our abode 
with him. God comes to dwell forever in the soul ; 
he never departs from her, unless he is driven away. 
According to the Council of Trent, *' he deserts not 
the soul, unless he is deserted." But, O Lord, you 
know that the ungrateful sinner shall, in a ^e\N mo- 
ments, banish you ; why do you not instantly depart 
from him ? Will you wait till he expels you ? Aban- 
don him — depart from him before he offers you 
this great insult. No, says the Lord, 1 wall not de- 
part till he himself chases me away. 

Then, in consenting to sin, the soul says to 
God, Lord, depart from me. ** The wicked," says 
Job, " have said to God, Depart from us." — Job xxi. 
14. The sinner, according to St. Gregory, says the 
same, not in words, but by acts. *' Recede, non 
verbis, sed moribus." The sinner knows that God 
cannot dwell with sin : in yielding to sin, he sees 
that God must depart : hence, by his conduct, he 
says to God, Since you cannot remain in me along 
with my sin, depart — farewell. And through the 
very door, by which God leaves the soul, the devil 
enters. *' Then he goeth and taketh with him seven 
other spirits more wicked than himself, and they 
enter in and dwell there." — Matt. xii. 45. In bap- 
tizing an infant, the priest commands the devil to 
depart. **Go out from him, unclean sspxiit, and 
make room for the Holy Ghost." Yes ; for the 
soul, by receiving the grace of God, becomes his 
13 



146 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

temple. "Know you not," says St. Paul, *^ that 
you are the temple of God ? " — 1 Cor. iii. 46. 
But, in consenting to sin, man does the very con- 
trary : he says to God, who is in his soul, " Go 
oui from me, O Lord, make room for the deviU* 
Of this the Lord complained to St. Bridget, saying, 
that he is treated by the sinner as a king expelled 
from his throne. " I am like a monarch banished 
from his own dominions ; and in my place the 
worst of plunderers is chosen.*' 

What pain should you feel if you received a 
grievous insult from a person on whom you had 
lavished favors ? This is the pain which you have 
given to your God, who laid down his life for your 
salvation. The Lord calls heaven and earth to pity 
him on account of the ingratitude of sinners. 

*^Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth ^ 

I have brought up children and exalted them, but 
they have despised me." — Isa. i. 2. In a word, by 
their iniquities sinners afflict the heart of God. 
"But they provoked to wrath, and afflicted the 
spirit of the Holy One." — Isa. Ixiii. 10. God is 
not susceptible of pain ; but were he capable of sor- 
row, a single mortal sin should, as Father Medina 
teaches, be sufficient to make him die through 
pure grief. " Mortal sin would, were it possible, 
destroy God himself, because it would be the cause 
of infinite sadness in God." — Medina on Penance. 
Thus, as St. Bernard says, ** Sin, as far as in it 
lies, destroys God." In committing mortal sin, the 
sinner, as it were, gives poison to God, and does all 
in his power to deprive him of life. '* The sin- 
ner," says David, "hath provoked the Lord." — 
Ps. X. 4. And according to St. Paul, he " tram- 
ples on the Son of God." — Heb. x. 29. For he 
despises all that Jesus Christ has done and suffered 
in order to take away the sins of the world. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 147 

Affections and Prayers. 

Then, my Redeemer, as often as I have sinned, 
I have banished thee from my soul, and have 
done what would, were it possible for thee to die, 
have taken away thy life. I now hear thee ask, 
'^ What evil have I done thee ? Tell me. "iVhat 
displeasure have I given thee, that thou shouldst 
offer me so many insults 1 '' Lord, thou hast given 
me existence, and hast died for me. Behold the 
evil thou hast done me. What answer, then, can I 
make? I say that I have deserved a thousand 
hells ; thou hast just grounds for sending me to 
everlasting torments. But remember the love 
which made thee die on the cross for my salvation ; 
remember the blood which thou hast shed for my 
sake, and have mercy on me. But I know thou 
dost not wish that I despair ; on the contrary, thou 
makest me feel that thou standest at the door of my 
heart, and that, by thy inspirations, thou knockest 
for admission. ^^ I stand at the gate and knock. ^^ 
You tell me to open. '* Open to me, my sister.'^ — 
Cant. V. 2. Yes, my Jesus, I banish sin from my 
soul : I am sorry for it with my whole heart, and I 
love thee above all things. Enter, O my Love ; 
the gate is open ; enter, and never more depart 
from me. Bind me to thyself by thy love, and do 
not permit me to be ever separated from thee. No, 
my God, we will never again be disunited ; I embrace 
thee, and unite thee to my heart : give me holy 
perseverance. ^^ Do not permit me to he separated 
from thee.^^ Mary, my mother, assist me always ; 
pray to Jesus for me ; obtain for me this favor, that 
1 may never more lose his grace. 



148 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



SIXTEENTH CONSIDERATION. 

ON THE MERCY OF GOD. 

•Mercy exalteth itself above judgment." — St. James ii iS. 

FIRST POINT. 

Good is naturally diffusive; that is, inclined to 
communicate its goods even to others. But God, 
who is by nature infinite goodness, (** Deus cujus 
natura bonitas." — St. Leo,) has an infinite desire 
to impart his own felicity to us ; and therefore his 
inclination is, not to chastise, but to show mercy to 
all. To punish is, according to Isaiah, a work 
opposed to the inclination of God. *^ He shall be 
angry, .... that he may do his work, his strange 
work ; his work is strange to him.'' — Isa. xxviii. 21. 
And when the Lord chastises in this life, he does it 
in order to show mercy in the next. *' O God, 
.... thou hast been angry, and hast had mercy on 
us." — Ps. lix. 3. He appears angry, that w^e may 
enter into ourselves, and detest our sins. ** Thou 
hast shown thy people hard things ; thou hast 
made us drink the wine of sorrow." — Ps. lix. 5. 
And when he sends us any chastisement, he does 
it because he loves us, and wishes to deliver us 
from eternal punishment. *^ Thou hast given a 
warning to them that fear thee, that they may 
, flee from before the bow, that thy beloved may 
be delivered." — ver. 6. And who can sufficiently 
admire and praise the mercy of God towards 
sinners in waiting for them, in calling them, and 
in receiving them when they return? O, how 
great is the mercy of God in waiting for our re- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 149 

pentance! My brother, when you offended God, 
he could have struck you dead ; but he waited for 
you, and, instead of chastising you, he conferred 
favors upon you, he preserved your life, and pro- 
vided for you. He pretended not to see your sins, 
that you might repent. ^* Thou overlookest the 
sins of men for the sake of penance." — Wis. xi. 
24. But, O Lord, how does it happen that you 
cannot beir to behold a single sin, and that you 
witness so many of them in silence? '* Thou 
canst not look on iniquity ; why lookest thou upon 
them that do unjust things, and boldest thy peace?" 
— Hab. i. 13. You behold the blaspheujer, the 
unchaste, the vindictive man, multiplying iniqui- 
ties from day to day ; and you do not chastise him ; 
and why so much patience ? '' Therefore the Lord 
waiteth, that he m:iy have mercy on you." — Isa, 
XXX. 18. God waits for sinners, that they may 
amend, and that thus he may pardon and save 
them. St. Thomas says, that all creatures, fire, 
the earth, air, water, by a natural instinct, would 
v/ish to punish and to take vengeance on the 
injuries done to their Creator. *' Omnis creatura 
tibi deserviens excandescit adversus injustos." But 
God, in his mercy, restrains them. But, O Lord, 
^ou wait for these impious wretches, that they may 
see their wickedness; but do you not see that they 
ungratefully take advantage of your mercy to 
offend you still more? " Thou hast been favorable 
to the nation ; th:)U hast been favorable to the na- 
tion ; art thou glorified?" — Isa. xxvi. 15. And 
why so much patience ? Because ** God wills not 
the death of tlie sinner, but that he be converted 
and live." Ez. xxxiii. 11. O patience of God ! 
St. Augustine goes so far as to say that God, were 
he not God, should be unjust on account of hU 
13* 



ISq preparation for death. 

excessive patience towards sinners. " Deus, Deus 
mens, pace tua dicarn, nisi quia Deus esses, injus- 
tus esses." To wait for those who abuse patience 
to become more insolent, appears to be an injustice 
to the divine honor. ** We sin,^^ continues the holy 
doctor, ** we adhere to sin.'' Some make peace 
with sin, and sleep in sin for months and years. 
We rejoice at sin: others go so far as to boast of 
their wickedness ; and you are appeased. We pro- 
voke you to anger — you invite us to mercy. We 
appear to be engaged with God in a contest, in 
which we labor to provoke him to chastise our 
guilt; and he invites us to pardon. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Lord, I know that I deserve to be at this 
moment in hell. *' Hell is my houseJ' But through 
thy mercy, I am not now in that place of woe, but 
I am here at thy feet, and feel that thou wishest 
and command est me to love thee. ** Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God.'' I hear thee tell me that 
thou wilt pardon me if I repent of the injuries I 
have done thee. Yes, my God ; since thou wishest 
me, a miserable rebel against thy majesty, to love 
thee, I love thee with my whole heart, and I feel 
more regret for the outrages I have offered to thee, 
than for any evil that could have befallen me. Ah! 
enlighten me, O infinite Goodness ; make me sen- 
sible of the wrongs I have done thee. I will no 
longer resist thy calls. I will give no more dis- 
pleasure to a God who has loved me so tenderly, 
who has pardoned me so often and with so much 
love. Ah ! that I had never offended thee, my 
Jesus; pardon me, and grant that, from this day 
forward, I may love nothing but thee; that I may 
live only for thee, who hast died for me ; that I 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 151 

may suffer for thy love, since thou hast suffered so 
much for the love of me. Thou hast loved me 
from eternity ; grant that for eternity I may burn 
with thy love. I hope for all things, O my Savior, 
through thy merits. I trust also in thee, O Mary ; 
save me by thy intercession. 

SECOND POINT. 

Consider, moreover, the mercy of God in calling 
the sinner to repentance. When Adam rebelled 
against the Lord, and hid himself from his face, 
behold, God, having lost Adam, goes in search of 
him, and calls him, as it were with tears, ^' Adam, 
where art thou?" — Gen. iii. 10. ''These," says 
Father Pererius, in his commentary on this passage, 
** are the words of a father seeking a lost son." 
My brother, God has often done the same to you. 
You fled from God, and he sought after you, call- 
ing you at one time by his inspirations, at another 
by remorses of conscience, now by sermons, again 
by tribulations, and by the death of your friends. 
Speaking of you, Jesus appears to say, *'I have 
labored with crying; my jaws are become hoarse." 
— Ps. Ixviii. 4. My son, I have almost lost my 
voice in calling you to repentance. Remember, O 
sinners, says St. Teresa, that that Lord, who shall 
one day be your Judge, is now calling you to return 
to him. 

Dearly beloved Christian, how often have you 
been deaf to the calls of God ! You deserved that 
he should call you no more ; but your God has not 
ceased to call you, because he wishes to make 
peace with you, and to save you. Who was it that 
called you? A God of infinite majesty. And 
what were you but a miserable, fetid worm ? Why 



152 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

did he cal. you ? For no other purpose than to re- 
store to you the life of grace which you had lost. 
"Return ye and live." — Ez. xviii. 32. To ac- 
quire the divine grace, it would be but little to live 
in a desert during your entire life. God offered to 
give you his grace at each moment, if you wished 
to obtain it by making an act of contrition, and you 
refused. And after all this, God has not abandoned 
you ; he has gone in search of you, as it were weep- 
ing, and saying. Son, why will you bring yourself 
to perdition ? ** And why will you die, O house of 
Israel ?" — Ezek. xviii. 31. 

When man commits a mortal sin, he banishes 
God from his soul. The wicked have said to God, 
** Depart from us.'* — Job xxi. 14. But what does 
God do ? He places himself at the door of that un- 
grateful heart. " Behold I stand at the gate and 
knock." — Apoc. iii. 20. He even appears to en- 
treat the soul to allow him to enter. ** Open to 
me, my sister." — Cant. v. 2. He grows weary 
praying for admission. ** I am weary of entreating 
thee." — Jer. xv. 9. Yes, says St. Denis the Are- 
opagite, God follows sinners like a despised lover, 
entreating them not to destroy their soals. '^ Deus 
etiam a se aversos amatorie sequitur et deprecatur 
ne pereant." And this precisely the apostle meant 
when he wrote to his disciples. *' For Christ, we 
beseech you to be reconciled to God." — 2 Cor. v. 
20. In explaining this passage, St. John Chrysos- 
tom makes a beautiful reflection. '' Ipse Christus^ 
vos obsecrat, quid autem obsecrat ? Reconciliamini 
Deo, non enim ipse inimicus gerit, sed vos." Christ 
himself entreats you ; but what does he entreat you 
to do? To be reconciled to God ; for it is not God 
that acts like an enemy, but you. The saint's 
meaning is, that the sinner has not to labor in order 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 153 

to move God to make peace with him ; for he, and 
not God, refuses peace. 

Ah! this ^ood Lord goes every day in search of 
so many sinners, continaally saying to them, ''Un- 
grateful souls, do not fly away any longer ; tell me 
why you fly away from me. I love your welfare, 
and desire nothing else than to make you happy. 
Why will you destroy yourselves?" But, O Lord, 
what is it you do ? Why so much patience and so 
much love towards these rebels ? What good do 
you expect from them? It redounds but little to 
your hoiior to show such an excess of love for the 
miserable worms that fly away from you. " What 
is a man, th;jt thou shouldst magnify him? or why 
dost thou set thine heart upon him ? " — Job vii. 
17. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Behold, O Lord, at thy feet an ungrateful soul 
imploring mercy. Father, forgive me. I call thee 
Father, because thou wishest me thus to call thee. 
My Father, pardon me. I do not deserve pity, for 
I have treated thee with ingratitude because thou 
hast been bountiful to me. Ah, my God, through 
that goodness which did not allow thee to abandon 
me when I fled from thee, receive me, now that I 
return to thee ! Give me, O my Jesus, a great 
sorrow f :r the offences I have offered to thee, and 
give me the kiss of peace. I am sorry above all 
things f:)r the injuries I have done thee ; I detest 
and abhor them, and I unite this hatred and abhor- 
rence with that which thou, my Redeemer, feltest 
for them in the garden of Gethsemani. Ah! par- 
don me through the merits of that blood which thou 
sheddest f)r me in the garden. I promise firmly 
never more to depart from thee, and to banish from 



154 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

my lieart every affection which is not for thee. My 
Jesus, my love, I love thee above all things; I wish 
always to love thee, and to love thee alone ; give 
me strength to execute this good will ; make me all 
thine. O Mary, my hope after Jesus, thou art the 
mother of mercy ; pray to God for me, and have 
pity on me. 

THIRD POINT. 

The princes of the earth disdain even to look at 
the rebel who comes to ask pardon ; but God acts 
not in this manner with us. *' He will not turn 
away his face from you, if you return to him.'^ — 2 
Par. XXX. 9. God cannot turn away his face from 
those who return and cast themselves at his feet; 
no, for he himself invites them, and promises to re- 
ceive them as soon as they come. ** Return to me, 
saith the Lord, and I will receive thee." — Jer. iii. 
11. ''Turn to me . . . . and I will turn to you, 
saith the Lord of hosts.'' — Zac. i. 3. O, with 
what love and tenderness does God embrace the sin- 
ner that returns to him ! This love and tenderness 
Jesus Christ wished to give us to understand by the 
parable of the sheep, which the shepherd, when he 
found it, placed on his shoulders. '' Doth he not 
lay it upon his shoulders, rejoicing ; and, coming 
home, call together his friends and neighbors, saying 
to them, Rejoice with me, because I have found 
my sheep that was lost?" — Luke xv. 5,6. The 
Redeemer adds, '' There shall be joy in heaven upon 
one sinner that doth penance." This tenderness 
the Savior declared more fully in the parable of the 
prodigal son; in which he tells us that he is the 
father who, when he saw his lost son returning, runs 
to meet him, and before his son utters a word, em- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 155 

braces and kisses him, and, in embracing him, 
almost swoons away through tenderness of consola- 
tion. ** And running to him, he fell upon his neck 
and kissed him.'' — Luke xv. 20. 

The Lord promises that, if sinners repent, he will 
even forget their sins, as if they had never offended 
him. " If the wicked do penance .... living he 
shall live I will not remember all his iniqui- 
ties that he hath done.'' — Ez. xviii. 2L He goes 
even so far as to say, ** Come and accuse me, saith 
the Lord ; if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be 
made as white as snow." — Isa. i. 18. As if he said, 
Sinners, come and accuse me ; if I do not pardon 
you, reprove me, upbraid me with having been un- 
faithful to my promises. But no ; " God knows not 
how to despise an humble and contrite heart." — 
Ps. 1. 19. 

The Lord glories in showing mercy and granting 
pardon to sinners. ** And therefore shall he be ex- 
alted, sparing you." — Isa. xxx. 18. And how long 
does he defer pardon ? Not an instant ; he grants 
it immediately. ** Weeping," says the prophet 
Isaias, *' thou shalt not weep ; he will surely have 
pity on thee." — Isa. xxx. 19. Sinners, exclaims 
the prophet, you have not long to weep ; at the first 
tear the Lord will be moved to pity. *' At the voice 
of thy cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer 
thee." — Ibid. God does not treat us as we treat 
him ; we are deaf to the calls of God ; but " as 
soon as he shall hear, he will answer thee ; " the very 
instant you repent and ask forgiveness, God an- 
swers and grants your pardon. 

Affections and Prayers. 
O my God, against whom have I rebelled t 
Against thee, who art so good, that thou hast ore- 



156 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

ated me, and died for me. After so many acts of 
treason, thou hast borne with me. Ah ! the thought 
of the patience thou hast had with me ought to 
make me live always on fire w^ith thy love. And 
who would have borne so long as thou hast the in- 
juries w^hich I have done thee? Miserable shall I 
be, should I ever again offend thee, and condemn 
myself to hell ! I already see that thy mercy can 
bear with me no longer. I am sorry, O Sovereign 
Good, for having offended thee. I love thee with 
my whole heart; I am resolved to give thee all the 
remainder of my life. Hear me, O Eternal Father, 
through the merits of Jesus Christ ; give me holy 
perseverance and thy love; hear me, O my Jesus, 
for the sake of the blood which thou sheddest for 
me. We therefore beseech thee^ assist thy servants^ 
whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood, 
O Mary, my mother, look upon me, '^turn thy eyes 
of mercy to us,'' and draw me entirely to God. 



SEVENTEENTH CONSIDERATION. 



ABUSE OF DIVINE MERCY. 

" Knowest thou not that the benignity of God leadeth thee 
to penance ?" — Rom. ii. 4. 



FIRST POINT. 

We read in the parable of the cockle, that the 
servants of the good man of the house, seeing that 
it had grown up in the field along with the wheat, 
wished to pluck it up. ** Wilt thou," said they, 
'* that we go and gather it up ? " — St. Matt. xiiL 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 157 

28. No, replied the master ; suffer it to grow up, 
and then it shall be gathered and cast into the fire. 
*' In the time of the harvest, I will say to the reap- 
ers. Gather up first the cockle, and bind it in bun- 
dles to burn." — Ibid. ver. 30. In this parable we 
see, on the one hand, the patience with which the 
Lord treats sinners; and on the other, the rigor 
with which he chastises the obstinate. St. Augus- 
tine says that the devil deludes men in two ways — 
by despair and hope. After the sinner has offended 
God, the enemy, by placing before his eyes the ter- 
ror of divine justice, tempts him to despair ; but be- 
fore he sins, the devil encourages him to sin with 
the hope of divine mercy. Hence the saint gives 
to all the following advice : After sin, hope for 
mercy ; before sin, far justice. He who abuses 
God's mercy to offend him, is undeserving of mercy. 
God shows mercy to those who fear him, but not to 
those who avail themselves of his mercy to banish 
the fear of God from their heart. Abulensis says 
that he who offends justice may have recourse to 
mercy; but to whom shall he have recourse, who 
offends mercy itself? 

It is hard to find a sinner so sunk in despair as to 
wish for his own damnation. Sinners wish to sin, 
without losing the hope of salvation. They sin and 
say, ** God is merciful; I will commit this sin, and 
will afterwards confess it.'' They say, observes St. 
Augustine, '* God is good ; I will do what I please.'' 
— Tract, xxxiii. in Job. Behold the language of 
sinners ; but, O God, such too was the language of 
so many who are now in hell. 

Say not, says the Lord, that the mercies of God 

are great ; that however enormous your sins may 

be, you shall obtain pardon by an act of contrition. 

" And say not, The mercy of the Lord is great f 

14 



158 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins.'' — 
Eccl. V. 6. Say it not, says the Lord ; and why ? 
" For mercy and wrath quickly come from him, and 
his wrath looketh upon sinners/' — Ibid. The 
mercy of God is infinite ; but the acts of his mercy, 
or his mercies, are finite. God is merciful, but 
he is also just. ** I am just and merciful," said our 
Lord to St. Bridget ; " but sinners regard me only as 
merciful." St. Basil writes that sinners wish to 
consider God only as good and merciful. ** Bonus 
est Dominus, sed etiam Justus, nolimus Deum ex 
dimidia parte cogitare." To bear with those who 
avail themselves of the mercy of God to oifend him, 
would not, says Father M. Avila, be mercy, but a 
want of justice. Mercy is promised, not to tho^ 
who abuse it, but to those who fear God. ** And 
his mercy," said the divine mother, ** to those that 
fear him." — St. Luke i. 50. Against the obstinate, 
threats of just retribution have been pronounced; 
and, says St. Augustine, as God is not unfaithful to 
his promises, so he is not a liar in his threats. 
**Clui verus est in promittendo, verus est in mi- 
nando." 

Beware, sa^s St. John Chrysostom, when the 
devil, not God, promises you divine mercy, that he 
may induce you to commit sin. *' Cave ne umquam 
canem ilium suspicias qui misericordiam Dei polli- 
cetur." — Hom. i. ad Pop. Antioc. Never attend 
to that dog that promises you the mercy of (jod. 
Woe, says St. Augustine, to him who hopes in order 
to sin. " Sperat ut peccet : vae a perversa spe." — 
In Ps. cxliv. O, how many, says the saint, has this 
vain hope deluded and brought to perdition ! *' They 
who have been deceived by this shadow of vain hope 
cannot be numbered." Miserable the man who 
d>uses the mercy of God to offer new insults to his 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 159 

majesty ! St. Bernard says that Lucifer's chastise- 
ment was accelerated, because he rebelled against 
God with the hope of escaping punishment. King 
Manasses sinned ; he afterwards repented, and ob- 
tained pardon. His son Ammon, seeing that his 
father's sins were so easily forgiven, abandoned him- 
self to a wicked life with the hope of pardon ; but 
for Ammon there was no mercy. Hence St. John 
Chrysostom asserts that Judas Was lost because he 
sinned through confidence in the benignity of Jesus 
Christ '' Fidit in lenitate Magistri." In fine, God 
bears, but he does not bear forever. Were God to 
bear forever with sinners, no one should be damned ; 
but the most common opinion is, that the greater 
part of adults, even among Christians, are lost. 
** Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that lead- 
eth to destruction, and many there are that go in 
thereat." — IMLatt. viL 13. 

According tb St. Augustine, he who offends God 
with the hope of pardon, ^' is a scoffer^ not a pent- 
tentJ' But St. Paul tells us that God does not 
allow himself to be mocked. Gal. vi. 7. To con- 
tinue to offend God as often and as long as the sin- 
ner pleases, and afterwards to gain heaven, should 
be to mock God. '^ For what things a man shall 
sow, those also shall he reap." — Ibid. ver. 8. He 
that sows sins, has no reason to hope for any 
thing else than chastisement and hell. The net 
with which the devil drags to hell almost all Chris- 
tians who are damned, is the delusion by which he 
leads them into sin with the hope of pardon. Sin 
freely, he says to them ; for after all your iniqui- 
ties, you shall be saved. But God curses the man 
that sins with the hope of mercy. *' Maledictus 
homo qui peccat in spe." The hope of sinners after 
sin is pleasing to God when it is accompanied with 



160 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

repeutancei^.but the hope of the obstinate is an 
abominarfqn to the Lord. — Job xi. 20. As th^ 
conduct of a servant who insults his master becausn 
he is good and merciful, irritates the master, s^ 
such hope provokes God to inflict vengeance. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my God, I have been one of those who have 
offended thee because thou wert bountiful to me^ 
Ah, Lord, wait for me, do not abandon me. I am 
sorry, O infinite Goodness, for having offended Ihee, 
and for having so much abused thy patjrj&nee. I 
thank thee for having waited for mi^4ili now. 
Henceforth I will never more betray tl^, aS I have 
hitherto done. Thou hast borne with* Me so long/^ 
that thou mightst one day see me !• lover of tmr 
goodness. Behold, this day has, I hopevarrived ;'I ^ 
love thee above all things, and es^(^m thy grace 
more than all the kingdoms of thS ;>#orld : rather 
than lose it, I am ready to forfeit life ^*i(ilousand 
times. My God, for the love of Jesiis Christ, give 
me holy perseverance till death, aloqg with thy holy 
iove. Do not permit me ever again to betray thee, 
or to cease to love thee. Mary, thou art my hope : 
obtain for me this gift of perseverance, and I ask 
nothing more. 

SECOND POINT. 

Some will say, ** God has hitherto shown me so 
many mercies, I hope he will treat me with the 
same mercy for the future.'* But I answer, ^* And 
will you insult God again, because he has been so 
merciful to you ? '* Then, says St. Paul, do you thus 
despise the mercy and patience of God ? Do you 
not know that the Lord has borne with you to this 



PREPARATION FOR 1>I5ATH3;T^%^ 161 

■■■•■ V 

moment, not that you may continue to ofFeniMm, 
but that you may weep over the evil you Sfflt 
done ? ** Despisest thou the riches of his goodneli3»^ 
and patience, and long-suffering? Knowest thou not 
that the benignity of God leadeth thee to penance?" 
— Rom. ii. 4. If, through confidence in the di- 
vine mercy, you continue to sin, the Lord will 
cease to show mercy. '' Except you be converted," 
says David, *' he will brandish his sword." — Ps. 
vii. 13. '* Revenge is mine, and I will repay them 
indue time^ — Deut. xxxii. 35. God waits, but 
when the time of chastisement arrives, he waits no 
longer, but executes vengeance. 

'' Therefore the Lord waiteth, that he may have 
mercy on you." — Is. xxx. 18. God waits for sin- 
ners, that they may amend ; but when he sees thai 
the time given to bewail their sins is employed in 
multiplying crimes, he then calls the very time to 
judge them. **'He hath called against me the 
time." — ^Laraen. i. 15. *' The very time," says 
Gregory, ^' comes to judge." Thus the very time 
given, and the^very mercies shown, to sinners, shall 
serve to make God chastise them with greater 
rigor, and abandon them sooner. ** We would 
have cured Babylon, but she is not healed ; let us 
forsake her." — Jer. li. 9. And how does God 
abandon sinners? He either sends them a sud- 
den death, and makes them die in sin, or he de- 
prives them of his abundant graces, and leaves 
them with the sufficient grace, with which they can, 
but will not, save theio:" souls. The blindness of 
their understanding, the hardness of their heart, 
the evil habits which they h ive contracted, shall 
render their salvaticm morally impossible ; and thus 
they shall be, if not absolutely, at least morally 
abandoned. *' I will take away the hedge thereof, 
14* 



162 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

and it shall be wasted.'* — Is. v. 5. O, what a 
chastisement ! When the master of the vineyard 
takes away its hedges, and leaves it open to mei> 
and to beasts, does he not show that he abandons 
it? It is thus that God acts when he abandons th» 
soul ; he takes away the hedge of holy fear, and of 
remorse of conscience, and leaves her in darkness 
And then all the monsters of crime shall enter the 
soul. ^* Thou hast appointed darkness, and it i? 
night ; in it shall all the beasts of the wood go 
about." — Ps. ciii. 20. And the sinner, aban- 
doned in that obscurity, shall despise the grace of 
God, heaven, admonitions, and excommunications, 
and will make a jest of his own damnation. *' The 
wicked man, when he is come into the depth of 
sins, contemneth.'' — Prov. xviii. 3. 

God will not chastise the sinner in this life ; but 
not to be punished in this world shall be the great- 
est chastisement of the wicked. *^ Let us have pity 
on the wicked, but he will not learn justice." — 
Isa. xxvi. 10. On this passage St. Bernard says, 
This mercy I do not wish for ; it is above all wrath, 
** Misericordiam banc nolo : super omnem iram 
misericordia ista." — Serm. xlii. in Cant. O, what 
a chastisement is it when God abandons the sinner 
into the hands of his sins, and appears not to de- 
mand any further account of them ! " According 
to the multitude of his wrath he will not seek him.^* 
— Ps. ix. 4. God appears not to be enraged 
against sinners. *' My jealousy shall depart from 
you, and I will cease and be angry no more." — 
Ez. xvi. 42. He appears to allow them all that 
they desire in this life. *' I let them go according 
to the desires of their heart." — Ps. Ixxx. 13. Mis- 
erable the sinner that prospers in this life ! His 
prosperity is a sign that God waits to make him a 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 163 

victim of his justice for eternity. '* Why/* said Jere- 
mias, ** doth the way of the wicked prosper ? " — 
Jer. xii. 1. He answers, ** Gather them together as 
sheep for a sacrifice/' — Ibid. ver. 3. There is no 
punishment greater than that which God inflicts, 
when he permits a sinner to add sin to sin. ^* Add 
thou iniquity upon their iniquity .... let them be 
blotted out of the book of the living." — Ps. Ixviii. 
28. In explaining these words, Bellarmine says 
that '' there is no punishment greater than when sin 
is the punishment of sin." It would be a smaller 
punishment to be struck dead by the Lord after 
their first sin ; for, by dying afterwards, they shall 
suffer as many hells as they have committed sins. 

Affections and Prayers. 

My God, I know that in my miserable state I 
have deserved to be deprived of thy grace and 
light ; but seeing the light which thou now givest 
me, and feeling that thou now callest me to repent- 
ance, I have just reason to hope that thou hast not 
as yet abandoned me. And since, O Lord, thou 
hast not abandoned me, multiply thy mercies on my 
soul, increase thy light, increase my desire to serve 
and love thee. Change me, O omnipotent God, 
and, from being a traitor and rebel, make me a 
great lover of thy goodness, that I may one day 
enter heaven to praise thy mercies for all eternity. 
Thou then wishes! to pardon me, and I desire 
nothing but the pardon of my sins and the gift of 
thy love. 1 am sorry, O infinite Goodness, for 
having so often offended thee. I love thee, O Sove- 
reign Good, because thou dost command me to love 
thee ; I love thee, because thou well deservest my 
love. Ah, my Redeemer, through the merits of 
thy blood, give thy love to a sinner whom thou hast 



164 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

loved so ardently, and whom thou hast borne with 
so patiently for so many years; I hope for every 
grace from thy mercy. I hope to love thee always 
till death, and for eternity. '' The mercies of the 
Lord I will sing forever." I will praise thy mercy, 
O my Jesus. I will forever praise thy mercy, O 
Mary, who hast obtained for me so many graces; I 
acknowledge that I have received them all through 
thy intercession. Continue, O my mother, to assist 
me by thy prayers, and to obtain for me holy per- 
severance. 

THIRD POINT. 

It is related in the Life of Father Louis La Nusa, 
that in Palermo there were two friends who went 
one day to take a walk. One of them, called 
Caesar, who was a comedian, seeing the other op- 
pressed with melancholy, said, '* How long is it 
since you were at confession? Is it on account of 
your long absence from the sacraments that you 
are so much troubled? Listen to me: Father La 
Nusa told me one day that God gave me twelve years 
to live, and that if, within that period, I did not 
amend, I should die an unhappy death. I have 
since travelled through so many parts of the world; 
IJiave had many attacks of sickness, one of which 
bfoLight me to the brink of death; but in this 
month the twelve years shall be completed, and I 
now feel better than in any part of my past life.'* 
He then invited his friend to hear, on Saturday, a 
new comedy which he had composed. But what 
happened? On Saturday, the 24th of November, 
1683, as he was going on the stage, he was seized 
with apoplexy, and died suddenly. He expired in 
the arms of a female comedian, and thus the com- 
edy end^d. But let us make the application to 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 165 

ourselves. Brother, when the devil tempts you 
agaia to sin, if you wish to be lost, you have it in 
your power to commit siu ; but do not then say 
that you wish to be saved. As long as you wish to 
sin, regard yourself as damned, and imagine that 
(jod writes the sentence of your damnation, and 
that he says to you. *^ What is there that I ought to 
do more tor my vineyard, that I have not done to 
it?" — Isa. v. 4. tfngrateful soul, what more 
onght I to do for you, that I have hot done? But, 
since you wish to be lost, go into eternal fire: 
the fault is your own. 

But you will say, *' Where, then, is the mercy of 
God?" Ah, unhappy soul! do you not feel that 
God has shown you mercy in bearing with you for 
Bo many years, after so many sins? You should 
remain forever prostrate on the earth, thanking 
him for his mercy, and saying, ^' The mercies of 
the Lord, that we are not consumed." — Lam. iii. 
22. By committing a single mortal sin, you have 
been guilty of a greater crime, than if you had 
trampled under your feet the first monarch in the 
world. You have been guilty of so many mortal 
sins, that if you had committed against your broth- 
er the injuries which you have offered to God, he 
would not have borne with yon. God has not only 
waited for you, but he has so often called you and 
invited you to pardon. If God had stood in need 
of you, or if you had conferred a great favor upon 
him, could he show you greater mercy? If, then, 
you offend him again, you shall change his mercy 
into wrath and vengeance. 

If, after the master had given it another year to 
produce fruit, the fruitless fig-tree still remained 
barren, who could expect that the Lord would have 
allowed it more time, or would not have cut it 



166 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

down? Listen, then, to the admonition of St. 
Augustine : ** O fruitless tree ! the axe is de- 
ferred ; be not secure; you shall be cut off." 
Your punishment, says the saint, has been delayed, 
but not taken away ; if you abuse any longer the 
divine mercy, you shall he cut off; in the end 
vengeance shall fall upon you. What do you wait 
for? Will you w^ait till God sends you to belli 
But should he send you there, you already know 
that your ruin is irreparable. The Lord is silent^ 
but he is not silent forever ; when the time of 
vengeance arrives, he no longer holds his peace. 
**' These things hast thou done, and I was silent. 
Thou thoughtest unjustly that I should be like 
to thee. I will reprove thee and set before thy 
face.'' — Ps. xlix. 2L I will place before your 
eyes the mercies I have shown you, and will make 
these very mercies judge and condemn you. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah, my God ! unhappy me, should I henceforth 
be unfaithful to thee, and betray thee again after 
the light thou now givest me. This light is a sign 
thou wishest to pardon me. I repent, O Sovereign 
Good, of all the injuries I have done thee, because 
they have offended thee, who art infinite goodness, 
Li thy blood I hope for pardon, and I hope for it 
with certainty; but, should I again turn my back 
upon thee, I would deserve a hell created on pur- 
pose for myself And what makes me tremble, O 
God of my soul, is, that I may again lose thy grace. 
I have so often promised to be faithful to thee, and 
have afterwards rebelled against thee. Ah, Lord, 
do not permit it ; do not ever abandon me to the 
great misfortune of seeing myself again thy enemy. 
Send me any chastisement, but not this. Do not 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 167 

permit me to he separated from thee. Shouldst thou 
see that I will again offend thee, strike me dead, 
rather than permit so great an evil. I am content 
to suffer the most cruel death, sooner than have to 
weep over the misery of being again deprived of 
thy grace. Do not permit me to he separated from 
thee. I repeat this prayer, O my God ; grant that 
I may repeat it always. Do not permit me to he sep* 
arated from thee. I love thee, my dear Redeemer. 
I do not wish to be separated from thee. Through 
the merits of thy death, give me an ardent love, 
which will bind me so closely to thee, that I may 
never more be able to dissolve the union. O 
Mary, my mother,! fear that, if I again offend God, 
thou too wilt abandon me. Assist me, then, by 
thy prayers ; obtain for me holy perseverance and 
the love of Jesus Christ. 



EIGHTEENTH CONSIDERATION. 

ON THE NUMBER OF SINS. 

" Because sentence is not speedily pronounced against th# 
evil, the children of men comniit evil without fear."- 
Eccl. viii. 11. 

FIRST POINT. 

If God instantly chastised the man who insults 
him, we certainly should not see him so much out- 
raged as we do at present. But because the Lord 
does not instantly punish sinners, but waits for 
them, they are encouraged to offend him the more. 
It is necessary to understand that, though God 
waits and bears, he does not wait and bear forever. 



168 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

It is the opinion of many holy fathers — of St. Basil, 
St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Cyril of Alexandria, 
St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, and others — 
that as God (according to the words of Scripture, 
Wis. xi. 21 — ** Thou hast ordered all things in 
measure, and number, and weight") has fixed for 
each the number of his days, the degrees of health 
and talent which he will give to him, so he has also 
determined the number of sins which he will par- 
don; and when this number is completed, he will 
pardon no more. ** Illud sentire nos convenit/* 
says St. Augustine, ** tamdiu unumquemque a Dei 
patientia sustineri, quo consummato, nullam illi 
veniam reservari." — De Vita Christi, cap. ix. 
Eusebius of Caesarea says the same — " Deus 
expectat usque ad certum numerum, et postea 
deserit." — Lib. viii. c^ap. ii. The same doctrine 
is taught by the above-mentioned fathers. 

And these fathers have not spoken at random, but 
resting on the sacred Scriptures. In one place the 
Lord says that he restrained his vengeance against 
the Amorrhites, because the number of their sins 
was not as yet filled up — *^ For as yet the iniquities 
of the Amorrhites are not at the full." — Gen. xv. 
16. In another place he says, *' I will not add 
any more to have mercy on the house of Israel." — 
Osee i. 6. Again he says, *' All the men who 
have tempted me ten times .... shall not see the 
land." — Num. xiv. 22, 23. "Thou hast," says 
Job, " sealed up my offences as it were in a bag." 
— Job xiv. 17. Sinners keep no account of their 
sins ; but God keeps an account of them, that when 
the harvest is ripe, — that is, when the number of 
gins is completed, — he may take vengeance on them, 
" Put ye in the sickles; for the harvest is ripe." — 
Joel iii. 13. In another place he says, " Be not 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 169 

without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin to 
sin." — Eccl. V. 5. As if he said, O sinner! you 
must tremble even on account of the sins which I 
have forgiven you ; for if you add another, it may 
happen that this new sin, along with those which 
have been pardoned, may complete the number, and 
then there shall be no more mercy for you. '' The 
Lord waiteth patiently, that, when the day of judg- 
ment shall come, he may punish them in the fulness 
of their sins." — 2 Mach. vi. 14. God waits till the 
measure of iniquities is filled up, and then he chas- 
tises the sinner. 

Of such chastisements there are many examples 
in the Scriptures. Saul disobeyed God a second 
time, and was abandoned. When he entreated 
Samuel to intercede for him, saying, ** Bear, I 
beseech thee, my sin, and return with me that I may 
adore the Lord," (1 Kings xv. 25,) Samuel an- 
swered, ** I will not return with thee, because 
thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the 
Lord hath rejected thee." — ver. 26. We have 
also the example of Balthassar, who, after having 
profaned the vessels of the temple at table, saw a 
hand writing on the wall, " Mane, Thecel, Phares." 
Daniel came, and in explaining these words, among 
other things, said, *' Thou art weighed in the bal- 
ance, and art found wanting." — Dan, v. 27. By 
these words he gave the king to understand that in 
the balance of divine justice the weighi of his sins 
had made the scale descend. ** The same night 
Balthassar, the Chaldean king, was killed." O, 
how^ many miserable sinners meet with a similar 
fate ! They live many years multiplying sins ; but, 
when the number is filled up, they are struck dead, 
and cast into hell ! ** They spend their days in 
wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell/' 
15 



170 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

— Job xxi. 13. There are some who spend their 
time in investigating the number of the stars, the 
number of the angels, or the number of years which 
each shall live. But who can discover the number 
of sins which God will pardon each individual? We 
should, therefore, tremble. My brother, it may be 
that God will pardon you no more after the first 
criminal pleasure which you indulge, after the first 
thought to which you consent, or after the first sin 
which you commit. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah! my God, I thank thee. How many, for 
fewer sins than I have committed, are now in hell ! 
For them there is no pardon — no hope. And I 
tim still living ; I am not in hell ; but, if I wish, I 
can hope for pardon and for paradise. I am sorry 
above all things for all my sins, because by them I 
have offended thee, who art infinite goodness. Eter- 
nal Father, look on the face of thy CJirist ; behold 
thy Son dead on the cross for my sake ; and through 
his merits have mercy on me. I wish to die rather 
than offend thee any more. When I consider the 
sins I have committed, and the graces thou hast be- 
stowed on me, I have just reason to fear that, if I 
commit another sin, the measure shall be completed, 
and that I shall be damned. Ah ! assist me by thy 
grace ; from thee I hope for light and strength to be 
faithful to thee. And if thou seest that I should 
again offend thee, take me out of my life, now that 
I hope to be in a state of grace. My God, I love 
thee above all things, and I feel a greater fear of 
incurring thy enmity than of death. For thy mercy^s 
sake do not permit me ever more to become thy 
enemy. Mary, my mother, have pity on me \ assist 
me ; obtain for me holy perseverance. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 171 

SECOND POINT. 

Some sinners say, "But God is merciful." 
"Who," I ask, "denies it?" The mercy of God 
is infinite ; but though his mercy is infinite, how 
many are cast into hell every day ! " The Lord 
hath sent me to heal the contrite of heart." — Is. 
Ixi. 1. God heals those who have a good will. He 
pardons sins, but he cannot pardon the determina- 
tion to commit sin. These sinners will also say, 
" I am young." You are young ; but God counts 
not years, but sins. The number of sins which 
God pardons is not the same for all ; some he par- 
dons a hundred ; others a thousand sins ; others he 
sends to hell after the second sin. How many has 
the Lord condemned to eternal misery after the first 
sin ! St. Gregory relates that a child of five years, 
for uttering a blasphemy, was condemned to hell. 
The most holy Virgin revealed to that great servant 
of God, Benedicta of Florence, that a girl twelve 
years old was damned after her first sin. A boy of 
eight years died after his first sin, and was lost. In 
the Gospel of St. Matthew we find that the Lord in- 
stantly cursed the fig-tree the first time he saw it with- 
out fruit. "May no fruit grow on thee forever. And 
immediately the fig-tree withered away." — Matt, 
xxi. 19. Another time God said, "For three 
crimes of Damascus, and for four, I will not con- 
vert it." — Amos i. 3. Perhaps some daring sinner 
may have the temerity to demand an account of God 
why he pardons some three sins, but not four. In 
this we must adore the judgments of God, and say 
with the apostle, " O depth of the riches, of the 
wisdom, and of the knowledge of God ! How in- 
comprehensible are his judgments, and unsearcha- 
ble his ways!" — Rom. xi. 33. The Lord, says 



172 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

St. Augustine, knows whom he spares, and whom 
he does not spare. To those who receive mercy he 
gives it gratuitously ; from those who do not re- 
ceive mercy, it is justly withheld. "• Novit ille cui 
parcat, et cui non parcat. duibus datur misericor- 
dia, gratis datur : quibus non datur, ex justitia non 
datur." — Lib. de Corrept. c. v. 

The obstinate sinner may say, But I have so 
often offended God, and he has pardoned me; I also 
hope he will pardon me the sin which I intend to 
commit. But, I ask, mue^t God spare you forever, 
because he has not hitherto chastised you ? The 
measure shall be filled up, and vengeance shall 
come. Samson continued to allow himself to be 
deluded by Dalila, hoping that, as on former occa- 
sions, he would escape from the Philistines. ** I 
will go out, as I did before, and shake myself" — 
Judges xvi. 20. But at last he was taken, and lost 
his life. *' Say not, I have sinned, and what harm 
hath befallen me ? " — Eccl. v. 4. Say not, says 
the Lord, I have committed so many sins, and God 
has not chastised me; ** for the Most High is a pa- 
tient rewarder ; " (Ibid. ;) — that is, he will one day 
come and punish all ; and the greater the mercy 
which he will have shown, the more severe shall be 
the chastisement which he will inflict. St. Chrys- 
ostom says, that God should be dreaded more when 
he bears with the obstinate sinner, than when he 
punishes him suddenly. ** Plus timendum cum 
tolerat, quam cum festinanter punit." Because, ac- 
cording to St Gregory, if they remain ungrateful, 
God punishes with the greatest rigor those whom 
he waits for with the greatest patience. ** duos 
diutius expectat, durius damnat." And it often 
happens, adds the saint, that they whom God has 
borne with for a Ion:! time, die unexpectedly, and 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 173 

without time for repentance. ** Srepe qui diu tol- 
erati sunt subita morte rapiuntur, ut nee flere ante 
mortem liceat/' And the greater the light which 
God will have given, the greater shall be your blind- 
ness and obstinacy in sin. ** For it had been better 
for them not to have known the way of justice, 
than, after they have known it, to turn back.'' — 2 
Pet. ii. 21. And St. Paul says, that it is morally 
impossible for a soul that sins after being enlight- 
ened, to be again converted. ** For it is impossible 
for those who were once enlightened, have tasted 
the heavenly gifts, .... and are fallen away, to be re- 
newed to penance." — Heb. vi. 4, 6. 

The threats of the Lord against those who are 
deaf to his calls, are truly alarming. " Because I 
have called, and you have refused, .... I also will 
laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that 
shall come to you which you feared. '* — Prov. i. 24. 
Mark the words — 1 also: they mean that, as the 
sinner has mocked God by his confessions, by prom- 
ising fidelity, and afterwards betraying him, so the 
Lord will mock him at the hour of death. The 
wise man says, **As a dog that returned to the 
vomit, so is the fool that repeateth his folly." — Prov. 
xxvi. IL In explaining this text, Denis the Car- 
thusian says, that as a dog that eats what he has 
just vomited, is an object of disgust and abomina- 
tion, so the sinner who relapses into sins which he 
has detested in the tribunal of penance, renders 
himself hateful in the sight of God. ** Sicut id quod 
per vomitum est rejectum resumere est valde abom- 
inabile et turpe, sic peccata deleta reiterare." 

Affections and Prayers. 
Behold me, O my God, at thy feet. I am that 
disgusting dog that has so often eaten the forbidden 
15* 



174 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

apples, which I before detested. I do not deserve 
mercy ; but, O my Redeemer, the blood which thou 
hast shed for me encourages and obliges me to hope 
for it. How often have I offended thee, and thou 
hast pardoned me! I promised never more to 
offend thee, and I have afterwards returned to the 
vomit ; and thou hast again pardoned me ! What 
do I wait for? Is it that thou mayst send me to 
hell, or that thou mayst abandon me into the hand 
of my sins, which would be a greater punishment 
than hell ? No, my God, I wish to amend ; and in 
order to be faithful to thee, 1 will put all my confi- 
dence in thee. I will, whenever I shall be tempted, 
always and instantly have recourse to thee. Hither- 
to, I have trusted in my promises and resolutions, 
and have neglected to recommend myself to thee 
in my temptations ; this has been the cause of my 
ruin. Henceforth thou shalt be my hope and my 
strength, and thus I shall be able to do all things. 
**I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me.'* 
— Philip, iv. 13. Give me grace, then, O my Jesus, 
through thy merits, to recommend myself to thee, 
and to ask thy aid in my wants. I love thee, O 
Sovereign Good, amiable above every good ; I wish 
to love thee alone ; but it is from thee I must re- 
ceive aid to love thee. O Mary, my mother, do 
thou also assist me by thy intercession; keep me 
under thy protection, and make me always invoke 
thee when I shall be tempted. Thy name shall be 
my defence. 

THIRD POINT. 

'* My son, hast thou sinned ? do so no more ; but, 
for thy former sins, pray that they may be forgiven 
thee." — Eccl. xxi. 1. Behold, dear Christian, the 
advice which your good Lord gives you because he 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 175 

desires your salvation. Son, offend me no more; 
but from this day forward be careful to ask pardon 
for your past transgressions. My brother, the more 
you have offended God, the more you should trem- 
ble at the thought of offending him again; for the 
next sin which you commit shall make the balance 
of divine justice descend, and you shall be lost. I 
do not say absolutely that after another sin there 
shall be no more forgiveness for you ; for this I do 
not know ; but I say that it may happen. Hence, 
when you shall be tempted, say within yourself, 
" Perhaps God will pardon me no more, and I shall 
be lost!'* Tell me; were it probable that certain 
food contained poison, would you eat it? If you 
had reason to think that on a certain road your 
enemies lay in wait to take away your life, would 
you pass that way as long as you could find another 
more free from danger? And what security, or 
even what probability, have you that, if you relapse 
into sin, you shall afterwards repent sincerely of it, 
and that you will not return again to the vomit ? 
What just reason have you to believe that God will 
not strike you dead in the very act of sin, or that, 
after your sin, he will not abandon you ? 

O God ! If you purchase a house, you spare no 
pains to get all the securities necessary to guard 
against the loss of your money ; if you take medi- 
cine, you are careful to assure yourself that it can- 
not injure you ; if you pass over a torrent, you 
cautiously avoid all danger of falling into it ; and 
for a miserable gratification, for a beastly pleasure, 
you will risk your eternal salvation, saying, ^* I ex- 
pect to go to confession after this sin." But when, 
I ask, will you go to confession ? ** Perhaps on Sun- 
day." And who has promised that you will live 
till Sunday ? Perhaps you intend to go to confes- 



176 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

sion to-morrow. But who promises you to-mor- 
row. **Diem tenes," says St. Augustine, *'qui 
horam non tenes ? " How can you promise your- 
self that you shall go to confession to-morrow, 
when you know not whether you shall be among 
the living in another hour ? ** He/* continues the 
saint, •* who has promised pardon to penitents, has 
not promised to-morrow to sinners ; perhaps he will 
give it, and perhaps he will not.'* If you now 
Commit sin, God, perhaps, will give you time for 
repentance, and perhaps he will not ; and should he 
not give it, what shall become of you for all eter- 
nity ? In the mean time, by consenting to sin, you 
lose your soul for the sake of a miserable pleasure, 
and expose yourself to the risk of being lost for- 
ever. Would you, for that vile gratification, risk a 
sum of one thousand ducats? Would you, for that 
momentary pleasure, expose to danger your all — 
your money, your houses, your possessions, your 
liberty and life? Surely you would not. Will you, 
then, for that wretched delight, lose all — your 
soul, heaven, and God ? Do you believe that 
heaven, hell, and eternity, are truths of faith, or 
that they are fables ? Do you believe that, if death 
overtake you in sin, you shall be lost forever? 
O, what temerity ! what folly ! to condemn your- 
self, by your own free act, to an eternity of torments, 
with the hope of afterwards reversing the sentence 
of your condemnation. ** Nemo,** says St. Augus- 
tine, '* sub spe salutis vult aegrotare.** No one is 
£0 foolish as to take poison with the hope of being 
preserved from death ; and will you condemn your- 
self to eternal death, saying, I will, perhaps, be 
hereafter delivered from it ? O folly which has 
brought, and brings, so many souls to hell ! ** Thou 
hast,** says the Lord, ** trusted in thy wickedness. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 177 

.... Evil shall come upon thee, and thou shalt not 
know the rising thereof." — Isa. xlvii. 10, 11. You 
have sinned through a rash confidence in the divine 
mercy; vengeance shall unexpectedly fall upon 
^'ou, and you shall not know wiience it comes. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Behold, O Lord, one of those fools who have so 
often lost their souls and thy grace with the hope of 
afterwards recovering them. And hadst thou 
struck me dead in those nights in which I was in 
sin, what would have become of me ? I thank thee 
for thy mercy, which has waited for me, and which 
now makes me sensible of my folly. I see that thou 
desirest my salvation; and I too wish to save my 
soul. I am sorry, O infinite Goodness, for having 
so often turned my back upon thee. I love thee 
with my whole heart. And I hope in the merits of 
thy passion, O my Jesus, that I will never again be 
one of those fools. Pardon me at this moment, 
and give me the gift of thy grace. I will never 
leave thee again. *' In thee, O Lord, have I hoped; 
let me never be confounded." Ah no ; I hope, O 
my Redeemer, never more to suffer the misfortune 
and confusion of seeing myself deprived of thy 
grace and love. Grant me holy perseverance, and 
give me the grace always to ask it of thee by in- 
voking thy holy name and the name of thy mother, 
and by saying, ** Jesus, assist me; most holy Mary, 
pray for me." Yes, my queen, if I have recourse to 
thee, I shall never be conquered. And when the 
temptation continues, obtain for me the grace not 
to cease to invoke thy aid. 



178 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



NINETEENTH CONSIDERATION. 

ON THE GREAT ADVANTAGES OF THE GRACE 
OF GOD, AND THE GREAT EVIL OF BEING 
IN ENMITY V^ITH GOD. 

" Man knoweth not the price thereof." — Job xxviii. 13. 

FIRST POINT. 

" If," says the Lord, " you separate the precious 
from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth." — Jer. 
XV. 19. They who know how to distinguish what 
is precious from what is vile, are like God, ** who 
knows how to refrise the evil and to choose the 
good." Let us examine how great a good it is ta 
be in the grace of God, and how great an evil to be 
in enmity with God. Men do not understand the 
value of divine grace. ** Man knoweth not the 
price thereof" Hence they exchange it for vanity, 
for a little earth, or for a beastly pleasure ; but it is 
an infinite treasure, which makes us worthy of the 
friendship of God. " For," says the wise man, 
'* she is an infinite treasure to men, which they that 
use, become the friends of God." — Wis. vii. 14. 
Hence, a soul in grace is the friend of God. The 
Gentiles, who were deprived of the light of faith, 
considered it impossible for a creature to attain to 
the friendship of God ; and they who were guided 
only by the light of nature could scarcely think 
otherwise ; for, as St. Jerome says, friendship makes 
friends equal : Amicitia pares aut accipit, aut facit. 
But God has declared in several places in the holy 
Scriptures, that by means of this grace we become 
his friends if we observe his law. " You are my 



( 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 179 

friends if you do the things which I command. I 
will not now call you servants, .... but I have 
called you friends." — John xv. 14. Hence St. 
Gregory exclaims, O goodness of God ! We do 
not deserve to be called even servants, and he con- 
descends to call us friends. ** O mira divinae bonita- 
tis dignatio ! Servi non sumus digni nominari, et 
amici vocamur." 

How fortunate would the man esteem himself, 
who should have the king for his friend ! In a vas- 
sal it would be temerity to presume to seek the 
friendship of his sovereign ; but it is not temerity in 
a soul to aspire to the friendship of her God. St. 
Augustine relates that two courtiers entered into a 
monastery of hermits, and that one of them began 
to read the Life of St. Antony the Abbot. '* He 
read, and in reading his heart became gradually 
divested of worldly affections.'' Turning to his 
companion, he said, " What do we seek 1 We can 
hope for nothing more than the friendship of the 
emperor. And through how many perils do we 
reach this greater danger ? And how long shall this 
last 1 " Friend, fools that we are, what do we seek ? 
The most we can expect to gain in the service of 
the emperor is, to become his friends ; and should 
we succeed in gaining his friendship, we shall ex- 
pose our eternal salvation to greater risk. It is 
with difficulty we can ever become the friends of 
Caesar ; ** but, if I wish, I am this moment the 
friend of God.'' 

Whosoever, then, is in the state of grace is the 
friend of God. He also becomes the son of God ; 
" You are gods, and the sons of the Most High." — 
Ps. Ixxxi; 6. This is the great gift which we have 
received from the divine love through Jesus Christ. 
" Behold," says St. John, " what manner of charity 



IB9 PREPARATION FOR DEATH, 

the Father hath bestowed upon us — that we should 
be called, and should be, the sons of God." — 1 
John iii. 1. Moreover, the soul in the state of 
grace is the spouse of God. ** I will espouse thee 
to me in faith." — Osee ii. 20. Hence the father 
of the prodigal, when his son returned, ordered a 
ring to be put on his finger, in token of his espou- 
sal. Lastly, the soul becomes the temple of the 
Holy Ghost. Sister Mary d'Ognes saw a devil go 
out from an infant who received baptism, and the 
Holy Ghost enter with a crowd of angels. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Then, my God, when my soul had the happiness 
of being in thy grace, it was thy friend, thy child, 
thy spouse, and thy temple; but, by committing 
sin, it lost all, and became thy enemy and the slave 
of hell. But I thank thee, O my God, for giving 
me time to recover thy grace. I am sorry above 
all things for having offended thee, O infinite Good- 
ness, and I love thee above all things. Ah! re- 
ceive me again into thy friendship. For thy mer- 
cy's sake do not reject me. I know that I deserve 
to be banished from thy face ; but, by the sacrifice 
which he offered on Calvary, Jesus Christ has mer- 
ited for me mercy and pardon. Thy kingdom 
come. My Father, (it is thus thy Son has taught 
me to call thee,) — my Father, come with thy 
grace to reign in my heart; grant that I may serve 
thee alone, that I may live for thee alone, and that 
I may love thee alone. And lead us not into 
temptation. Ah! do not permit my enemies to 
tempt me, so that I may be conquered. But de- 
liver us from evil. Deliver me from hell; but de- 
liver me first from sin, which alone can lead me to 
hell. O Mary, pray for me, and preserve me from 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 181 

the great misfortune of ever seeing myself in sin 
and deprived of the grace of thine and my God. 

SECOND POINT. 

St. Thomas of Aquino says that the gift of grace 
surpasses every gift which a creature can receive, 
since it is a participation of the divine nature. 
*' Donura gratiae excedit omnem facultatem naturae 
creatae, cum sit participatio divinae naturae." And 
before him, St. Peter said the same, — ** that by 
these you may be made partakers of the divine 
nature." — 2 Pet. i. 4. Such the grace which 
Jesus Christ has merited for us by his passion; 
he has communicated to us the same splendor 
which he received from the Father. ** And the 
glory which thou hast given to me, I have given to 
them." — John xvii. 22. In fine, a soul in the 
state of grace, is one thing with God. *' He," says 
St. Paul, ** that is joined to the Lord, is one spirit." 
— 1 Cor. vi. 17. The Redeemer has said that in a 
soul that loves God, the three Persons of the Most 
Holy Trinity dwell. **If any one love me, my 
Father will love him, and we will come to him, 
and we will make our abode with him." — John 
xiv. 23. 

So great is the beauty of a soul in the state of 
grace, that God himself extols it. '' How beautiful 
art thou ! how beautiful art thou ! " — Cant. iv. 1. 
The Lord appears never to take his eyes off the 
Boul that loves him, nor to close his ears to her 
petitions. ** The eyes of the Lord are upon the 
just; and his ears unto their prayers." — Ps. xxxiii. 
16. St. Bridget used to say that a man could not 
behold the beauty of a soul in the grace of God, 
without dying through joy. And St. Catharine of 
16 



182 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Sienna, seeing a soul in a state of grace, said that 
she would willingly have given her life to prevent 
that soul from losing such beauty. Hence she 
kissed the ground on which the priests walked, 
because through them souls recover the grace of 
God. 

How many treasures of merits can a soul in the 
state of grace acquire ? In each moment she can 
merit an eternity of glory. St. Thomas teaches 
that every act of love merits for the soul eternal 
life. ** Quilibet actus charitatis meretur vitam 
aeternam." Why, then, should we envy the nobles 
of the earth ? If we are in the grace of God, we 
can constantly acquire grandeurs in heaven, which 
far surpass all their earthly greatness. A certain 
lay brother of the Society of Jesus, as Father 
Patrignani relates in his Menologies, appeared after 
death, and said that he and Philip the Second, 
king of Spain, were in the enjoyment of glory ; but 
that his glory in heaven was as far superior to that 
of Philip, as that monarch was raised above him on 
this earth. Moreover, he alone who has expe- 
rienced it, can conceive the peace which a soul 
in the grace of God enjoys in this life. **0 taste 
and see that the Lord is sweet." — Ps. xxxiii. 9. 
The words of the Lord cannot fail. " Much peace 
have they that love thy law." — Ps. cxviii. 165. 
The peace of a soul which is united with God, 
surpasses all the pleasures which the senses and 
the world can give. '' The peace of God, which 
surpasseth all understanding." — Phil. iv. 7. 

Affections and Prayers. 
O my good Jesus, thou art the good pastor who > 
didst allow thyself to be slaughtered in order to give ; 
life to thy sheep. When I fled away from thee, , 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 183 

thou didst not cease to follow and seek after me ; 
thou dost receive me now that I seek thee, and cast 
myself with a penitent heart at thy feet. Give me 
again thy grace, which I have miserably lost through 
my own fault. I am sorry for it with my whole 
heart ; I would wish to die of sorrow at the thought 
of having so often turned my back on thee. Par- 
don me through the merits of the painful death 
which, thou hast suffered for me on the cross. Bind 
me with the sweet chains of thy love, and do not 
permit me ever more to fly away from thee. Since 
I have merited the eternal torments of hell, give 
me strength to bear with patience all the crosses 
which thou sendest me. Since I have deserved to 
be for eternity under the feet of the devils, make 
me embrace with love ail the contempt and insults 
which I shall receive from men. Finally, make 
me obedient to all thy holy inspirations, and give 
me grace to conquer all human respects for the love 
of thee. I am resolved henceforward to serve thee 
only ; let others say what they please, I will serve 
thee alone, O my most amiable God ; thee only do 
I wish to please. But give me thy aid, without 
which I can do nothing. I love thee, O my Jesus, 
with my whole heart, and I trust in thy blood. Mary, 
my hope, assist me by thy prayers. I glory in being 
thy servant, and thou dost glory in saving sinners 
who have recourse^ to thee. Come to my relief and 
save me. 

THIRD POINT. 

Let us now see the misery of a soul that is in 
enmity with God. She is separated from God, her 
Sovereign Good. *' Your iniquities," says the prophet 
Isaias, ** have divided between you and your God." 
--Isa. lix. 2. Hence she is no longer his, and he 
is no longer her God. " You are not my people, 



184 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

and I will not be yours/' — Osee i. 9. The soul 
not only belongs no longer to God, but God even 
hates her, and condemns her to hell. God does not 
hate any of his creatures; he does not hate the 
wild beast, the viper, or the toad. ** Thou lovest 
all things that are, and hatest none of the things 
which thou hast made.'' — Wis. xi. 25. But he 
cannot refrain from hating sinners. '* Thou hatest 
all the workers of iniquity." — Ps. v. 7. Yes ; God 
cannot but hate sin, which is diametrically opposed 
to his will ; and in hating sin, he must necessarily 
hate the sinner who is united to his sin. ** But to 
God the wicked and his wickedness are hateful 
alike." — Wis. xiv. 9. 

O God ! if a man has for his enemy a monarch 
of the earth, he cannot sleep ; he is every moment 
in dread of death. And how can he who is the 
enemy of God, enjoy peace l He may escape the 
vengeance of his sovereign by concealing himself 
in a wood, or by taking refuge in a distant country. 
But who can fly from the hands of God ? Lord, 
says David, if I shall ascend into heaven, if I shall 
hide myself in hell, wheresoever I go, your hand can 
reach me. *' If I ascend into heaven, thou art 
there; if I descend into hell, thou art present. . . . 
Even there also shall thy hand lead me." — Ps. 
cxxxviii. 8, 10. 

Poor sinners ! they are cursed by God, cursed by 
the angels, cursed by the saints, cursed also every 
day on earth by all priests and religious, who, in 
reciting the divine office, proclaim them accursed. 
" The?/ are cursed who decline from thy command' 
mentsJ' — Ps. cxviii. 21. Moreover, the soul that is in 
enmity with God has lost all her merits. Should a 
man be equal in merits to St. Paul the Hermit, who 
lived forty-eight years in a cave ; to St. Francis 
Xavier, who gained ten millions of souls to God; or 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 185 

to St. Paul the Apostle, who, according to St. Jer- 
ome, surpassed in merits all the other apostles, — 
that man, if he commit a single mortal sin, loses 
all. *^ All his justices which he hath done, shall 
not be remembered." — Ezek. xviii. 24. Behold 
the ruin which the enmity of God produces; it 
transforms the child of God into the slave of Lu- 
cifer ; his beloved friend into an enemy whom he 
sovereignly hates; and the heir of heaven into one 
condemned to hell. St. Francis de Sales used to 
say that, were the angels capable of weeping, they 
should shed tears of pity at the sight of a soul that 
commits mortal sin and loses the divine grace. 

But the greatest misery is, that the angels would, 
if it were in their power, weep, and the sinner weeps 
not. A Christian, says St. Augustine, if he lose a 
sheep or any other valuable animal, weeps over the 
loss, and neither eats nor sleeps ; but when he loses 
the grace of God, he eats and sleeps, and sheds not 
a single tear. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Behold, O my Redeemer, the miserable state to 
which I have brought myself To make me worthy 
of thy grace, thou hast spent thirty-three years in 
toils and pains ; and I, for the poisoned pleasure of 
a moment, have despised and lost it. I thank thy 
mercy, which still gives me time to recover it if I 
wish. Yes, I wish to do every thing in my power 
to regain it. Tell me what I must do in order to 
obtain thy pardon. Dost thou wish me to repent? 
O my Jesus, I am sorry with my whole heart for 
having offended thy infinite goodness. Dost thou 
wish me to love thee ? I love thee above all things. 
Hitherto I have unfortunately employed my heart 
in loving creatures and vanities. From this day 
16* 



186 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

forward I will live only for thee ; I will love only 
thee, my God, my treasure, my hope, my strength. 
** I will love thee, O Lord, my strength." — Ps. 
xvii. 1. Thy merits, thy wounds, O my Jesus, shall 
be my hope and my strength ; from thee I hope for 
strength to be faithful to thee. Give me, then, O 
my Redeemer, the gift of thy grace, and do not per- 
mit me ever again to depart from thee. Divest my 
soul of all worldly affections, and inflame my heart 
with thy holy love. ** Kindle in it the fire of thy 
love." Mary, my mother, w^ho wert always on fire 
with divine love, make me burn like thee with the 
love of God. 



TWENTIETH CONSIDERATION. 

FOLLY OF SINNERS. 

"For the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God."— 
1 Cor. iii. 19. 

FIRST POINT. 

The Venerable John D'Avila would have divid- 
ed the world into two prisons, one for the incred- 
ulous, the other for Christians who live in sin at a 
distance from God. The prison of the latter he 
would have called the prison of fools. But the 
greatest misery and misfortune is, that these miser- 
able men esteem themselves wise and prudent, 
though they are the most foolish and imprudent of 
mortals. And unfortunately they are exceedingly 
numerous. *' The number of fools is infinite." — 
Eccl. i. 15. Some are foolish through love of hon- 
ors ; some for the sake of pleasures ; and others 
from attachment to the miserable goods of this earth. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 187 

And great as their folly is, they have the temerity 
to call the saints fools, because they despise the 
goods of this life in order to gain eternal salvation 
and the possession of God, who is the true and su- 
preme good They deem it folly to embrace con- 
tempt, and to pardon injuries , folly to abstain from 
sensual pleasures, and practise mortification ; folly 
to renounce honors and riches, to love solitude and 
an humble and hidden life. But they never reflect 
that the Lord has called their wisdom folly. '^ For,'* 
says the apostle, ** the wisdom of the world is fool- 
ishness with God.'* — 1 Cor. iii. 19. 

Ah ! they shall one day confess their folly ; but 
when ? When there shall be no remedy for it. 
They shall- then say in despair, '* We fools esteemed 
their life madness, and their end without honor.'' — 
Wis. V. 4. Ah ! fools that we have been ! we re- 
garded the lives of the saints as folly ; but now we 
know that we have been miserably foolish. *' Be- 
hold how they are numbered among the children of 
God, and their lot is among the saints." — Ibid. ver. 
5. Behold how they have obtained a place among 
the happy number of the children of God, and 
have secured their lot among the saints — an eter- 
nal lot, which shall make them happy for eternity ; 
and we are among the number of the slaves of the 
devil, condemned to burn in this pit of torments 
for all eternity. '* Therefore we have erred^^ — thus 
they shall conclude their lamentation — '^ from the 
way of truth, and the light of justice hath not 
shinedunto us J' — Wis. v. 6. Then we have erred 
by shutting our eyes to God's light ; and what ren- 
ders our condition still more forlorn is, that for our 
error there is no remedy, and there shall be none 
as long as God shall be God. 

How great, then, the folly of sinners, who, for a 
rile emolument, for a little smoke, for a transient 



188 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

"delight lose the grace of God! What would not a 
vassal io in order to gain the favor of his sover- 
eign ! O God ! for a miserable gratification, to 
lose God, the supreme good ! to lose paradise ! to 
forfeit peace in this life, by bringing into the soul 
the monster sin, which, by its remorses, shall tor- 
ture her unceasingly! and to condemn yourself 
voluntarily to everlasting woe ! Would you indulge 
in that forbidden pleasure, if, in punishment, your 
hand was to be burnt? or if you were to be shut 
up for a year in a grave ? Would you commit that 
sin, if, after consenting to it, you should forfeit a 
hundred crowns ? And still you believe and know 
that, in yielding to sin, you lose heaven and God, 
and that you are condemned to eternal fire ; and 
after all you transgress the divine law. 

Affections and Prayers 

O God of my soul, what should be my lot at this 
moment, if thou hadst not shown me so many mer- 
cies ? I should be in hell, among the number of 
the foolish, to which I have belonged. I thank 
thee, O my Lord, and I entreat thee not to abandon 
me in my blindness. I feel that thou tenderly 
callest and invitest me to ask pardon, and to hope 
for great graces from thee, after the great insults I 
have offered to thee. Yes, my Savior, I hope thou 
wilt admit me among thy children ; I am not 
worthy to be called thy child, after having so often 
insulted thee to thy face. *' Father, I am not wor- 
thy to he called thy child: I have sinned against 
Heaven and before theeP But I know that thou 
goest in search of the strayed sheep, and that thou 
feelest consolation in embracing thy lost children. 
My dear Father, I am sorry for having offended 
thee. I cast myself at thy feet, and embrace them ; 
I will not depart till thou pardon and bless me. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 189 

*'I will not let thee go except thou^bless me." — 
Gen. xxxii. 26. Bless me, O my Father, and let 
the fruit of thy benediction be, a great sorrow for 
my sins, and a great love for thee. I love thee, O 
my Father ; I love thee with my whole heart. Do 
not permit me ever more to depart from thee. De- 
prive me of all, but do not strip me of thy love. 
O Mary, if God is my Father, thou art my mother. 
Do thou also bless me. I do not deserve to be thy 
son ; accept me for thy servant ; but make me a 
servant who will always love thee tenderly, and al- 
ways confide in thy protection. 

SECOND POINT. 

Poor sinners ! they labor and toil for the attain- 
ment of worldly sciences, or the art of gaining the 
goods of this life, which shall soon end, and neg- 
lect the goods of the next life, which is everlasting! 
They lose their reason to such a degree, that they 
become not only fools, but senseless beasts ; for, 
living like brute animals, they attend not to what is 
not lawful or unlawful, but only follow the beastly 
instincts of the senses, and embrace what is pleas- 
ing to the flesh, without ever reflecting on what 
they lose, or on the eternal ruin which they bring 
upon themselves. To live in this manner is to act 
not like a man, but like a senseless beast. '* Hom- 
inem ilium dicimus," says St. Chrysostom, ** qui 
imaginem homini salvam retinet. QuaB autem est 
imago hominis? Rationalem esse." To be a man, 
is to be rational — that is, to act according to 
reason, and not according to the sensual appetite. 
Were beasts to receive from God the use of rea- 
son, and to act according to its dictates, we should 
say that they acted like men; and, on the other 
hand, when a man follows the impulse of the senses 



190 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

in opposition to reason, it must be said he acts like 
a beast. 

** O that they would be wise, and would under- 
stand, and would provide for their last end." — 
Deut. xxxih 29. He who acts according to the 
rules of prudence, looks to the future — that is, to 
what must happen at the end of life — to death and 
judgment, and after judgment, hell or heaven. O, 
how much wiser is the peasant who saves his soul, 
than the monarch who brings himself to hell ! 
*' Better is a child that is poor and wise, than a 
king that is old and foolish, who knoweth not to 
foresee hereafter." — Eccl. iv. 13. O God! would 
not all pronounce the man to be a fool, who, in 
order to gain a shilling, should risk his entire prop- 
erty? And shall he not be considered foolish, 
who, for a momentary gratification, forfeits the 
grace of God, and exposes his €oul to the danger 
of eternal perdition ? The care of present, and 
the total neglect of eternal goods and evils, is the 
ruin of the immense multitude of the damned. 

God has certainly not placed us in this world to 
become rich, or acquire honors, or to indulge our 
senses, but to gain eternal life. " But the end is 
life everlasting." — Rom. vi. 22. And nothing but 
the attainment of this end is of importance to us. 
" One thing is necessary." — Luke x. 42. But 
there is nothing which sinners despise more than 
this end ; they think only of the present ; they each 
day walk to death, and approach the gate of eter- 
nity, but know not whither they are going. *' What 
would you think," says St. Augustine, " of a pilot, 
who, when asked where he is going, should answer, 
that he did not know? Would not all exclaim, 
that he is bringing the ship to ruin ? Such," 
adds the saint, *' is the man who runs out of the 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 191 

way.'' Such are the wise of the world, who know 
how to acquire weahh, to indulge in amusements, 
to gain posts of honor and emolument, but know 
not how to save their souls. The rich glutton 
knew how to lay up wealth ; but he died, and was 
buried in helL Alexander the Great knew how to 
acquire so many kingdoms; but in a few years he 
died, and was damned forever. Henry the Eighth 
knew how to preserve his throne by rebelling 
against the church ; but seeing at death that he lost 
his soul, he exclaimed, ** We have lost aW How 
many miserable sinners now weep and cry out in 
hell, *' What hath pride profited us? or what advan- 
tage hath the boasting of riches brought us? All 
those things are passed away like a shadow." — 
Wis. V. 8. Behold, they exclaim, for us all the 
goods of the world have passed away like a shadow, 
and nothing remains but eternal wailing and ever- 
lasting torments. 

*' Before man is life and death ; that which he 
shall choose shall be given him." — Eccl. xv. 18. 
Beloved Christian, God places before you, in this 
world, life and death ; that is, the voluntary privation 
of forbidden pleasures, by which you will gain eter- 
nal life ; or the indulgence of them, by which you 
merit everlasting death. What do you say? What 
choice do you make ? In making the choice, act 
like a man, and not like a senseless beast. Act 
like a Christian who believes in the Gospel, and 
says, " What doth it profit a man if he gain the 
whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul ? " • — 
Matt. xvi. 26. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah, my God, thou hast given me reason, thou 
hast given me the light of faith, and I have acted 



192 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

like a senseless beast, by losing thy grace for the 
miserable pleasure of the senses, which have 
passed away like air ; and now I find nothing but 
remorses of conscience, and debts to your divine 
justice. *' Enter not into judgment with thy ser- 
vant ! " Ah, Lord, judge me not according to my 
merits, but treat me according to thy mercy. Give 
me light, give me sorrow for the offences which I 
have committed against thee, and pardon me. ** I 
have gone astray like a sheep that is lost ; seek thy 
servant.'^ I am a lost sheep ; and unless you seek 
after me, I shall be lost forever. Have pity on me 
for the sake of that blood which thou hast shed for 
me. I am sorry, O Sovereign Good, for having 
left thee, and for having voluntarily renounced thy 
grace. I would wish to die of sorrow; but give 
me an increase of sorrow. Bring me to heaven, 
that there I may sing thy mercies. Mary, my 
mother, thou art my refuge ; pray to Jesus for me ; 
beg of him to grant me pardon and holy persever- 
ance. 

THIRD POINT. 

Let us be persuaded that the truly wise are they 
who know how to acquire the divine grace and the 
kingdom of heaven ; and let us incessantly implore 
the Lord to give us the science of the saints, which 
he gives to all who ask it from him. — Wis. x. 10. 
O, what a precious science, to know how to love 
God, and to save our souls ! This science con- 
sists in knowing how to walk in the way of salva- 
tion, and to adopt the means of attaining eternal life. 
The affair of salvation is of all affairs the most ne- 
cessary. If we know all things, and know not 
how to save our souls, our knowledge shall be un- 
profitable to us, and we shall be forever miserable ; 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 193 

but, on the other hand, though we should be igno- 
rant of all things, we shall be happy for eternity, if 
we know how to love God. '* Blessed is the man," 
says St. Augustine, *' who knows thee, though he 
be ignorant of other things.'' One day, brother 
Egidius said to St. Bonaventure, ** Happy you, 
Father Bonaventure, who are so learned. I am a 
poor, ignorant man, who knows nothing. You 
can become more holy than I can.'' '^ Listen," 
replied the saint. ** If an ignorant old woman love 
God more than I do, she shall be more holy than I 
am." On hearing this, brother Egidius began to 
exclaim, **0 poor old woman, poor old woman, 
listen, listen : if you love God, you can become 
more holy than Father Bonaventure." 

*' Surgunt indocti," says St. Augustine, " et 
rapiunt coelum." The unlearned rise up, and 
bear away the kingdom of heaven. How many 
rude and illiterate Christians, who, though unable to 
read, know how to love God, and are saved T And 
how many of the learned of this world are damned ! 
But the former, not the latter, are truly wise. O, 
how truly wise were St. Paschal, St. Felix the 
Capuchin, St. John of God, though unacquainted 
with human sciences ! O, how truly wise were so 
many holy men, who, abandoning the world, shut 
themselves up in the cloister, or spent their lives ihs 
the desert ! How truly wise were St. Benedict, St. 
Francis of Assisium, and St. Lewis of Toulouse, 
who renounced the throne ! O, how truly wise 
were so many martyrs, so many tender virgins, 
who refused the hafid of princes, and suffered 
death for the sake of Jesus Christ ! That true 
wisdom consists in despising the goods of this life, 
and in securing a happy eternity, even worldlings 
know and believe ; hence, of all persons who give 
17 



194 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

themselves to God, they say, ** Happy they who 
are truly wise, and save their souls ! " In fine, they 
who renounce the goods of the world to give them- 
selves to God, are said to be undeceived. What, 
then, should we call those who abandon God for 
worldly goods? We should call them deluded 
men. Brother, to what class do you wish to be- 
long? In order to make a good choice, St. 
Chrysostom tells you to visit the sepulchres of the 
dead. **Proficiscamur ad sepulchra." The grave 
is the school in which we may see the vanity of 
earthly goods, and in w^hich we may learn the 
science of the saints. Tell me, says St. Chrysos- 
tom, are you able there to discover who has been 
a prince, a noble, or a man of learning? For ray 
part, adds the saint, I see nothing but rotten- 
ness, worms, and bones. All is but a dream, a 
shadow. ** Nihil video, nisi putredinem, ossa, et 
vermes. Omnia fabula, somnium, umbra." Every 
thing in this world shall soon have an end, and 
shall vanish like a dream or a shadow. But, dear- 
ly beloved Christian, if you wish to be truly wise, 
it is not enough to know your end; it is necessary 
to adopt the means of attaining it. All would wish 
to be saved, and to be saints ; but, because they do 
not employ the means, they never acquire sanctity, 
and are lost. It is necessary to fly from the occa- 
sions of sin, to frequent the sacraments, to prac- 
tise mental prayer, and, above all, to impress on the 
heart the following maxims of the Gospel: ''What 
doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world?" 
— Matt. xvi. 26. *'He th^t loveth his life shall 
lose it." — John xii. 25. That is, we must even 
forfeit our life in order to save the soul. *'If any 
man will come after me, let him deny himself" 
— Matt. xvi. 24. To follow Jesus Christ, it is ne- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 195 

cessary to refuse to self-love the pleasures which it 
seeks. "Life in his good will." — Ps. xxix. 6. 
Our salvation consists in doing the will of God. 
These, and other similar maxims, should be deeply 
impressed on the soul. 

Affections and Prayers. 
O Father of mercies, behold my miseries, and 
have pity on me; give me light, make me sensible 
of my past folly, that I may bewail it, and make 
known to me thy infinite goodness, that I may love 
it. My Jesus, ^^ do not deliver up to beasts the 
souls that confess to theeJ^ You have expended 
your blood for my salvation; do not permit ms 
ever more to be, as I have hitherto been, the slave 
of the devils. I am sorry, O my Sovereign Good, 
for having abandoned thee. I curse all the mo- 
ments in which I voluntarily consented to sin; and 
I embrace thy holy will, which desires nothing but 
my welfare. Eternal Father, through the merits 
of Jesus Christ, give me strength to do all that is 
pleasing to thee. Strike me dead rather than per- 
mit me to oppose thy holy will. Assist me by thy 
grace to banish from my heart every affection 
which does not tend to thee. I love thee, O God 
of my soul, I love thee above all things; and from 
thee I hope for every good, for pardon, for perse- 
verance in thy love, and for paradise, that there I 
may love thee for eternity. O Mary, ask these 
graces for me. Thy Son refuses thee nothing. 
My hope, I trust in thee. 



196 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

\ 

TWENTY-FIRST CONSIDERATION. 

UNHAPPY LIFE OF THE SINNER ; AND HAPPY 
LIFE OF THE CHRISTIAN WHO LOVES 
GOD. 

"There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord." — Isa. 
xlviii. 22. '' Much peace have they that love thy law." — 
Ps. cxviii. 165. 

FIRST POINT. 

In this life all men seek after peace. The mer* 
chant, the soldier, the man who goes to law, labor 
with the hope of making a fortune, and of thus find- 
ing peace, by worldly lucre, by a more exalted post, 
by gaining a lawsuit. But poor worldlings seek 
from the world that peace which the world cannot 
give. God alone can give us peace. The holy 
church prays in the following words: ** Give to 
thy servants that peace which the world cannot 
give.'' No ; the world, with all its goods, cannot 
content the heart of man ; for he was created, not 
for them, but for God alone ; hence God alone can 
make him happy and content. Brute animals, that 
have been made for sensual delights, find peace in 
earthly goods : give to an ox a bundle of hay, and 
to a dog a piece of flesh, and they are content; they 
desire nothing more. But the soul, which has been 
created for no other end than to love God, and to 
live in union with him, shall never be able to find 
peace or happiness in sensual enjoyments ; God 
alone can make her perfectly content. 

The Son of God gave the appellation of fool to 
tlie rich man who, after having reaped a rich bar* 
vest from his fields, said to himself, " Soul, thou 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 197 

hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thy 
rest; eat, drink, and make good cheer." — Luke 
xii. 19. '' Stulte," says St. Basil, '' numquid ani- 
mam porcinam habes ? " Miserable fool ! have you 
the soul of a swine, of a brute, that you expect to 
make it happy by eating, drinking, or by sensual 
delights? ^^ Requiesce, comede, bibe.'^ A man may 
be puffed up, but he cannot be satisfied by the 
goods of this world. '* Inflari potest," says St. 
Bernard, ** satiari non potest." On the words of 
the Gospel, '' Behold, we have left all things^'* the 
same St. Bernard writes, that he saw different 
classes of fools laboring under different species of 
folly. All had a great thirst for happiness ; some 
were satiated with the goods of this earth, which is a 
figure of the .avaricious; others with wind, the 
figure of the ambitious, who seek after empty hon- 
ors; others, seated round a furnace, swallowed the 
sparks that were thrown from it; these were the 
passionate and vindictive ; others, in fine, drank pu- 
trid waters from a fetid lake ; and these were the 
voluptuous and unchaste. Hence, turning to them, 
the saint exclaims, *'0 fools, do you not see that 
these things increase, rather than diminish, your 
thirst? " ** Haec potius famem provocant quam ex- 
tinguunt?" The goods of the world are but ap- 
parent goods, and therefore they cannot satisfy the 
heart of man. *' You have eaten," says the prophet 
Aggeus, '' but have not had enough." — Agg. i. 6. 
Hence, the more the avaricious man possesses, the 
more he seeks to acquire. ** Major pecunia," says 
St. Augustine, ** avaritias fauces non claudit, sed 
extendit." The possession of great wealth does 
not close, but rather extends, the jaws of avarice. 
The more the unchaste man wallows in the mire 
of impurity, the greater is his disgust, and, at the 
17* 



198 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

same time, his desire for such beastly pleasures; 
and how can dung and carnal filthiness content the 
heart? The same happens to the ambitious man, 
who wishes to satisfy his desires by smoke ; for he 
always attends more to what he wants than to what 
he possesses. After having acquired so many king- 
doms, Alexander the Great wept, because he had 
not dominion over other countries. If worldly 
goods could content the human heart, the rich and 
the monarchs of the earth should enjoy complete 
happiness ; but experience shows the contrary. Sol- 
omon tells us that he refused no indulgence to his 
senses. ** Whatsoever my eyes desired, I refused 
them not.'' — Eccl. ii. 10. But after all his sen- 
sual enjoyments, what did he say ? " Vanity of 
vanities, and all is vanity." — Ibid. i. 2. That is, 
every thing in this world is mere vanity, a pure lie, 
pure folly. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my God, what now remains of all the offences 
I have offered to thee, but pains, bitterness, and 
merits for hell ? I am not sorry for the pain and 
remorse which I now feel ; on the contrary, they 
console me, because they are the gift of thy grace, 
and make me hope that, since thou inspirest these 
sentiments, thou wishest to pardon me. What dis- 
pleases me is the pain I have given thee, my Re- 
deemer, who hast loved me so tenderly. I deserved, 
O my Lord, to be abandoned by thee; but, in- 
stead of abandoning me, I see that thou dost offer 
me pardon, and that thou art the first to ask for a 
reconciliation. O my Jesus, I wish to make peace 
with thee, and desire thy grace more than every 
earthly good. I am sorry, O infinite Goodness, for 
having offended thee ; I would wish to die of sor- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 199 

row for my offences. Ah ! through the love which 
thou didst entertain for me when thou didst expire 
on the cross, pardon me, receive me into thy heart, 
and change my heart, so that henceforth I may please 
thee as much as I have hitherto offended thee. I now 
renounce, for thy sake, all the pleasures which the 
world can give me, and I resolve to forfeit my life 
rather than lose thy grace. Tell me what I must do 
in order to please thee ; I wish to do it. What pleas- 
ures, what honors, what riches can I seek? I wish 
only for thee, my God, my joy, my glory, my treasure, 
my life, my love, my all. Give me, O Lord, strength 
to be faithful to thee. Give me the grace to love 
thee, and then do with me what thou pleasest. 
Mary, my mother and my hope, take me under thy 
protection, and obtain for me the grace to belong 
entirely to God. 

SECOND POINT. 

But, according to Solomon, the goods of this 
world not only do not content the heart, but they 
are even a source of pain and affliction of spirit. 
** And behold, all is vanity and affliction of spirit." 

— Eccl. i. 14. Poor sinners ! they seek for happi- 
ness in their sins, but they find nothing but bitter- 
ness and remorse. ^^ Destruction and unhappiness 
in their ways, and the way of peace they have not 
known." — Ps. xiii. 3. What peace ? What peace ? 
** There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord." 

— Isa. xlviii. 22. In the first place, sin brings with 
it a dread of divine vengeance. The man who is 
beset by powerful enemies, neither eats nor sleeps 
in peace. And can he who has God for his enemy 
enjoy repose ? ** Fear to them that work evil." 

— Prov. X. 29. When the man who is in the state 



200 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

of sin, hears the roaring of thunder, O, how does 
he tremble ! Every leaf that moves excites terror. 
" The sound of dread is always in his ears." — Job 
XV. 21. He is always flying away, though no one 
pursues him. *' The wicked man fleeth when no 
man pursueth." — Prov. xxviii. 1. He is pursued 
by his own sin. After having killed his brother 
Abel, Cain said, ** Every one therefore that findeth 
me, shall kill me.'' — Gen. iv. 14. God assured 
him that no one should injure him. '* And the Lord 
said to him. No; it shall not be so." — ver. 15. 
But notwithstanding this assurance, the Scripture 
tells us that Cain *' dwelt a fugitive on the earth." 

— Ibid. He w^as always flying from one place to 
another. And who, but his own sin, was the per- 
secutor of Cain ? 

Sin also brings with it remorse of conscience, 
that cruel worm which unceasingly gnaws the soul. 
If the miserable sinner go to a festivity, to a com- 
edy, to a place of amusement, his conscience says 
to him, *' You are the enemy of God ; should you die 
in your sin, where shall you go? " The torture of 
remorse of conscience is so great even in this life, 
that to free themselves from it, some have commit- 
ted suicide. It is related of a certain man, who had 
killed an infant, that, in order to get rid of the 
stings of remorse, he entered into a monastery : but 
finding no peace even there, he went before a judge, 
confessed his crime, and got himself condemned to 
death. 

What is a soul without God? The Holy Ghost 
compares her to a sea agitated by the tempest. ** The 
wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest." 

— Isa. Ivii. 20. Were a person brought to a musi- 
cal exhibition, or to a ball, and obliged to remain 
suspended by a cord, with his head downwards. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 201 

could he enjoy the entertainment? Such is the 
state of a man who lives in the enjoyment of world- 
ly goods, but without God ; his soul is as it were 
turned upside down. He may eat, and drink, and 
dance ; he may wear costly apparel, and may acquire 
honors, dignities, and possessions ; but he never shall 
have peace. ** There is no peace to the wicked.''* 
God alone imparts peace; but he gives it to his 
friends, not to his enemies. 

The goods of this earth, says St. Vincent Ferrer, 
do not enter the soul. *' Sunt aquae, quae non intrant 
illuc ubi est sitis." The sinner may wear embroi- 
dered robes and the richest jewels; he may indulge 
the palate as much as he pleases ; but his poor soul 
shall be full of thorns and gall ; and therefore, with 
all his riches, pleasures, and amusements, you shall 
see him always unhappy and ready to fly into a rage 
and fury at every contradiction. He who loves God 
resigns himself to the divine will in adversity, and 
enjoys peace ; but he who lives in opposition to the 
divine will, cannot conform to it, and therefore he 
has no means of tranquillizing the soul. The mis- 
erable man serves the devil; he serves a tyrant, who 
repays hirn with gall and bitterness. Ah 1 the word 
of God must be verified. " Because thou didst not 
#erve the Lord thy God w^ith joy and gladness, thou 
shalt serve thy enemy in hunger, and thirst, and 
nakedness, and in want of all things.'' — Deut. 
xxviii. 47, 48. What do not the vindictive suffer 
after they have gratified their resentment? the un- 
chaste, after they have attained their wicked object? 
What do not the ambitious, the avaricious endure ? 
O! how many are there, who, if they suffered for 
God as much as they suffer for their own damnation^ 
should become great saints ! 



202 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



Affections and Prayers. 

O life misspent ! O my God, if, to serve thee, I had 
suffered the pains which I have endured in order to 
offend thee, how many merits should I now find 
treasured up for paradise ! Ah, my Lord, for what 
have I abandoned thee, and lost thy grace ? For 
poisoned and momentary pleasures, which, as soon 
as they were indulged, disappeared, and left my soul 
full of thorns and bitterness. Ah, my sins, I detest 
you, I curse you a thousand times. I bless thy 
mercy, O my God, which has borne with me so 
patiently. I love thee, O my Creator and Redeemer, 
who hast given thy life for me ; and because I love 
thee, I am sorry with my whole heart for having 
offended thee. My God, my God, why have I lost 
thee? for what have I exchanged thee ? I now know 
the evil I have done ; and I resolve to lose every 
thing, even life, rather than lose thy love. Give me 
light, O eternal Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ; 
make known to me thy greatness, and the nothing- 
ness of the goods which the devils present to me in 
order to make me lose thy grace. I love thee, but 
I desire to love thee with greater ardor. Grant that 
thou alone mayst be my only thought, my only desire, 
my only love. I hope for all from thy goodness, 
through the merits of thy Son. Mary, my mother, 
through the love which thou bearest to Jesus Christ, 
I entreat thee to obtain for me light and strength to 
serve him and to love him till death. 

THIRD POINT. 

Then all the goods and delights of this world 
cannot content the human heart. Who can satisfy 
all its desires? God alone. " Delight in the Lord, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 203 

and he will give thee the requests of thy heart." — 
Ps. xxxvi. 4. The heart of man is always in search 
of goods that will make it happy. He enjoys riches, 
pleasures, honors, and he is not content ; for these 
are finite goods, and he was created for an infinite 
good. But let him seek God, let him unite him- 
self with God, and behold, he is content, all his 
desires are satiated. *' Delight in the Lord, and he 
will give thee the requests of thy heart." — Ps. xxxvi. 
4. During all the time which St. Augustine spent 
in sensual delights, he never found peace. This he 
afterwards confessed when he gave himself to God. 
** Inquietum est," says the holy doctor, *' cor nos- 
trum, donee requiescat in te." Our heart is rest- 
less till it rest in thee. My God, I now know that 
all is vanity and affliction, and that you alone are 
the true peace of the soul. *^ All things are hard^ 
and thou alone reposed Hence he afterwards wrote, 
" Q,uid quaeris, homuncio, qugerendo bona ? Quaere 
unum bonum, in quo sunt omnia bona." What do 
you seek, O miserable man ? seek one good, in which 
are all goods. While he was in sin, David went 
to his gardens, and indulged in the pleasures of the 
table and all other royal entertainments ; but the 
table, the gardens, and the creatures, in which he 
took delight, said to him, ** David, do you expect that 
we shall make you happy 1 It is not in our power 
to content your heart. Where is your God ? Go 
and find your God ; he alone can satisfy the cravings 
of your soul." Hence, in the midst of all his enjoy- 
ments, David wept continually. ** My tears have 
been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me 
daily. Where is thy God?" — Ps. xli. 4. 

But, O, how content and happy does God make 
the faithful souls that love him ! After having left 
all for God, without shoes, almost naked, and dead 



204 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

from cold and hunger, St. Francis of Assisium en- 
joyed a paradise in saying, *' My God and my ally 
After he had become a religious, St. Francis Bor- 
gia was obliged, in travelling, often to lie on a bed 
of straw; but, so abundant were the consolations 
which he experienced, that he could not sleep. 
When St. Philip Neri left all things, he used, after 
going to rest, to receive so much consolation from 
God, that he would say, *'0 my Jesus, allow me to 
sleep." Father Charles of Lorraine, who was de- 
scended from the princes of Lorraine, and entered 
the Society of Jesus, began sometimes to dance 
through joy in his poor cell. In the plains of In- 
dia, St. Francis Xavier would uncover his breast, 
and exclaim. Enough ^ O Lord. ** Sat est, Dom- 
ine." Enough, O Lord ; no more consolation ; my 
heart can bear no more. St. Teresa used to say 
that a single drop of heavenly consolation gives 
more content than all the pleasures and amuse- 
ments of the world can give. Ah, God cannot but 
fulfil his promises to give peace and happiness to 
all who renounce worldly goods for his sake. *' And 
every one that hath left house, or brethren, or sis- 
ters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, for 
my name's sake, shall receive a hundred fold, and 
shall possess life everlasting." — Matt. xix. 29. 

What, then, do we seek after? Let us go to 
Jesus Christ, who calls us, saying, **Come to me, 
all you that labor and are burdened, and I will re- 
fresh you." — Matt. xi. 28. Ah! the soul that 
loves God enjoys that peace which surpasses all the 
pleasures and gratifications which the world and 
the senses can give. *' Pax Dei quae exsuperat om- 
nem sensum." — Phil. iv. 7. It is true that, in this 
life, even the saints have to submit to pains and 
crosses ; for this earth is a place of merit, and it is 
impossible to merit without suffering. But, accord- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 205 

ing to St. Bonaventure, divine love, like honey, ren- 
ders things the most bitter, sweet and amiable. He 
that loves God, loves the will of God, and therefore 
he rejoices in sorrows, because, in embracing them, 
he knows that he gives delight and pleasure to his 
God. **Vident crucem," says St. Bernard, *'sed 
non vident unctionem." We see the cross, but not 
the unction. We behold only the mortifications 
which the lovers of God endure, and the pleasures 
from which they abstain; but we do not see the 
spiritual delights with which the Lord consoles 
them. O, if sinners tasted the peace enjoyed by a 
soul that wishes for nothing but God ! *' O, taste 
and see," says David, *' that the Lord is sweet." — 
Ps. xxxiii. 9. My brother, begin to make meditation 
every day, to communicate frequently, to converse 
with God ; and you shall find that during the short 
time which you shall spend with him, he will give 
you greater consolation than the world, with all its 
amusements, has ever given you. O, taste and see. 
He who has not tasted, cannot understand how God 
contents the soul that loves him. 

Affections and Prayers. 

My dear Redeemer, how have I been hitherto so 
blind as to abandon thee, who art an infinite good, 
and the fountain of all consolation, for the miser- 
able and momentary gratifications of the senses ? I 
am astonished at my blindness, but I am still more 
astonished at thy mercy, which has so bounti- 
fully borne with me. I thank thee for making me 
now sensible of my folly, and of my obligation to 
love thee. I love thee, O my Jesus, with my whole 
soul, but I desire to love thee with greater fervor. 
Increase my desire and my love. Enamor my soul 
of thee, who art infinitely amiable ; of thee, who 
18 



206 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

hast left nothing undone to gain my love ; of thee, 
who so ardently desirest my love. ^^ If thou wilt, 
thou canst make me clean.'' Ah, my dear Redeem- 
er, purify my heart from all impure affections, 
which hinder me to love thee as I would wish ! It 
is not in my power to inflame my whole heart with 
the love of thee, and to make it love nothing but 
thee. This requires the power of thy grace, which 
can do all things. Detach me from every creature, 
banish from my soul every affection which is not 
for thee, make me all thine. I am sorry above all 
things for all the displeasure I have given thee. I 
resolve to consecrate all the days of my life to thy 
holy love ; but it is only thy grace that can make 
tiie fulfil this resolution. Grant me, O Lord, this 
grace for the sake of the blood which thou didst 
shed for me with so much pain and so much love. 
Let it be the glory of thy power to make my heart, 
which was once full of earthly affections, now be- 
come all flames of love for thee, O infinite Good. 
O mother of fair love, O Mary, by thy prayers, 
make my whole soul burn, as thine did, with the 
charity of God. 



TWENTY-SECOND CONSIDERATION. 



ON EVIL HABITS. 

" The wicked man, when he is come into the depth of sinS| 
contemneth." — Prov. xviii. 3. 



FIRST POINT. 

The evil inclination to sin is one of the greatest 
injuries which we have received from the sin of 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 207 

Adam. This made the apostle weep when he saw 
himself impelled by concupiscence to the very evil 
which he abhorred. '* I see another law in my 
members .... captivating me in the law of sin.'* — 
Rom. vii. 23. Hence it is so difficult for us, who 
are drawn to evil by this concupiscence and by so 
many enemies, to reach, without sin, the land of 
bliss. What would you say of a traveller who, 
being obliged to cross an agitated sea in a shattered 
vessel, would load the ship with a burden whicli, 
even in a calm sea, would be sufficient to sink the 
vessel ? What hopes could you entertain of the 
safety of such a man ? Now, we may say the same 
of the man who has contracted an evil habit : he 
must pass the sea of this life (a sea always tempes- 
tuous, in which so many perish) in the weak and 
shattered vessel of the flesh, to which we are 
united : and he overloads this vessel with sins of 
habit. It is very difficult for such a man to save 
his soul ; because a bad habit blinds the under- 
standing, hardens the heart, and thus makes the 
sinner obstinate till death. 

First, a bad habit blinds the understanding. 
Why do the saints always implore light from God, 
and tremble lest they should become the greatest 
sinners in the world ? Because they know that if 
they lose God's light, they may commit the greatest 
crimes. How does it happen that so many Chris- 
tians live obstinately in sin until they are lost in 
the end? *' Their own malice blinded them.'* — 
Wis. ii. 21. Sin blinds them, and thus they are lost. 
Every sin produces blindness; the more sins are 
multiplied, the greater the blindness they produce. 
God is our light ; and therefore, the farther the 
soul is removed from God, the more blind she be- 
comes. ** His bones," says Job, '* shall be filled 



208 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

with the vices of his youth." — Job xx. 11. As the 
light of the sun cannot enter a vessel filled with 
clay, so a heart replete with vices cannot admit the 
light of God. Hence we see certain sinners lose 
the divine light, so that tljey go on from sin to sin 
without ever thinking of repentance. " The wick- 
ed walk round about." — Ps. xi. 9. Fallen into the 
dark pit of sin, they do nothing but commit sins, 
they speak only of sins, they think only of sinning, 
and scarcely feel any longer that sin is an eviL 
** Ipsa consuetudo mali," says St. Augustine, " non 
ginit peccatores videre malum quod faciunt." The 
very habit of sin does not allow them to see the 
evil which they do. Hence they live as if they no 
longer believed in the existence of God, of heaven, 
hell, or eternity. 

And behold, after an evil habit is contracted, the 
sins which before excited horror, are now viewed 
with indifference. ''Make them," says David, 
•Mike a wheel, and as stubble before the wind.'* — - 
Ps. Ixxxii. 14. See, says Gregory, how a straw is 
blown about by every breath of air. In like man- 
ner a person, before he falls into sin, resists and 
combats temptations, at least for some time; but, af- 
ter having contracted a bad habit, he yields instant- 
ly to every temptation, and falls in every occasion 
of sin; and why? Because the habit of sin has 
deprived him of light. St. Anselm says, that the 
devil acts towards certain sinners like a person 
who fastens a cord to a bird ; he allows it to fly 
away, but whenever he pleases, draws it back to 
the earth. These are, according to the saint, ha- 
bitual sinners. **Pravo usu irretiti ab hoste tenen^ 
tur, volantes in eadem vitia dejiciuntur." — Ap. 
Edinor., in vita, lib. ii. St. Bernardine says (torn* 
iv. serm. xv.) that some continue to commit sin, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 209 

without being exposed to any dangerous occasion. 
He compares habitual sinners to the wings of a 
windmill, which are driven round by every wind, 
and turn the mill even when there is no corn to be 
ground, and against the will of the master. You 
shall find habitual sinners, who indulge in bad 
thoughts even without any occasion to excite them, 
without pleasure, and drawn into them as it were 
involuntarily and forcibly, by the effects of evil 
habits. '' Dura res est consuetudo,*' says St. John 
Chrysostom, "quae nonnunquam nolentes commit- 
tere cogit illicita." Yes, as St. Augustine says, a 
bad habit brings on a certain necessity. ** Dum 
consuetudini non resistitur, facta est necessitas.'* 
And according to St. Bernardine, evil habits are 
changed into our aature. **Usus vertitur in natu- 
ram." Hence, as it is necessary for a man to 
breathe, so it appears that habitual sinners become 
the slaves of sin, and bring themselves into a ne- 
cessity of falling into sin. I have said that they 
become slaves of sin. There are servants, who 
serve for wages, and slaves, who serve by force 
and without remuneration. To these we may 
compare certain miserable men, who sin even with- 
out pleasure. 

'' The wicked man, when he is come into the 
depth of sins, contemneth." — Prov. xviii. 3. This 
passage St. Chrysostom explains of habitual sin- 
ners, who, sunk in an abyss of darkness, despise 
corrections, sermons, censures, hell, and God ; they 
despise every thing, and resemble the vulture, which 
waits to be killed by the fowler, rather than aban^ 
don the dead body on which it feeds. Father Re- 
cupito relates that a man condemned to death, 
even when going to the place of execution, raised 
his eyes, saw a young female, and consented to a 
18* 



210 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

bad thought. Father Gisolfo relates that a blasphe- 
mer, who had been likewise condemned to death, 
when thrown off the scaffold, broke out into a blas- 
phemy. St. Bernard goes so far as to say that it is 
almost useless to pray for habitual sinners, — that 
we must weep over them as lost forever. If they 
no longer see their danger, how can they escape 
the precipice ? To preserve them from it, a mir- 
acle of grace is necessary. The miserable wretches 
shall open their eyes in hell, when the sight of 
their misery shall serve only to make them weep 
more bitterly over their folly. 

Affections and Prayers. 

My God, thou hast bestowed more favors on me 
than on others, and I have done greater injuries to 
thee than any person whom I know. O sorrowful 
heart of my Redeemer, so much afflicted and tor- 
tured on the cross at the sight of my sins, give me 
through thy merits a lively sense of my faults, and 
a lively sorrow for them. Ah, my Jesus, I am full 
of vices, but thou art omnipotent ; thou canst easily 
fill my soul with thy holy love. I therefore hope in 
thee, who art infinite goodness and infinite mercy. 
I repent, O Sovereign Good, of having offended 
thee. O that I had died rather than have ever 
offended thee ! I have forgotten thee ; but thou 
hast not forgotten me : this I see with the light 
which thou now givest me. Since, then, thou 
gavest me this light, give me also strength to be 
faithful to thee. I promise to die a thousand times 
rather than ever turn my back upon thee. But in 
thy aid I place my hopes. ** In thee, O Lord, I 
I have hoped ; let me never be confounded.'' I 
hope, O my Jesus, in thee, that I shall never more 
see myself confounded in sin, and deprived of thy 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 211 

gjace. To thee also, O Mary, my mistress, I turn. 
In thee, O Lady, I have hoped; let me not be con- 
founded forever. O my hope, I trust in thy inter- 
cession, that I shall never again see myself the 
enemy of thy Son. Ah, beg of him to strike me 
dead rather than abandon me to this sovereign 
misfortune. 

' SECOND POINT. 

A bad habit hardens the heart. ** Cor durum," 
says Cornelius a Lapide, ** efficit consuetude pec- 
candi." And this hardness of heart God justly per- 
mits in punishment of resisting his calls. ** The 
Lord,'' says the apostle, " hath mercy on whom he 
will; and whom he will he hardeneth." — Rom. ix. 
18. According to St. Augustine, God hardens the 
sinner by not showing mercy ; ** Obduratio Dei ^st 
nolle misereri." It is not that God directly hard- 
ens habitual sinners, but he subtracts his graces in 
punishment of their ingratitude for past favors, and 
thus their heart becomes hard like a stone. *' His 
heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a 
smith's anvil." — - Job xli. 15. Hence it is that, 
while others are softened, and shed tears in hearing 
sermons on the rigor of divine justice, on the pains 
of the damned, or on the passion of Jesus Christ, 
the habitual sinner will remain unmoved ; he will 
speak, and listen to others speaking, on these sub- 
jects, with as much indifference as if they did not 
concern him ; and thus these sermons shall serve to 
render him more obdurate. *^ His heart shall be 
firm as a smith's anvil." 

Even sudden deaths, earthquakes, thunder and 
lightning, shall no longer strike terror into the heart 
of the habitual sinner; instead of awaking, and 
making him enter into himself, they shall rather ea- 



212 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

courage him in the deadly sleep of death and per- 
dition in which he slumbers. ** At thy rebuke, O 
God of Jacob, they have all slumbered." — Ps. Ixxv. 
7. An evil habit gradually takes away all remorse 
of conscience ; to the habitual sinner crimes the 
most enormous appear trifling. " Peccata quam- 
vis horrenda/' says St. Augustine, ** cum in con- 
suetudinem veniunt, parva, aut nulla esse viden- 
tur." The commission of sin is naturally accom- 
panied with shame ; but, according to St. Jerome, 
they who contract evil habits lose even the shame 
of committing sin. *' Qui ne pudorem quidem ha- 
bent in delictis.'' St. Peter compares the habitual 
sinner to the sow that wallows in the mire. As the 
sow wallowing in the mire feels not its stench, so 
the habitual sinner perceives not the stench of 
his crimes, which disgusts all others. And, says 
St. Bernardine, what wonder is it that, after the 
mire of sin has blinded him, he should not see his 
miserable condition, even when God scourges him 
for his iniquities? *' Populus immergit se in pec- 
catis, sicut sus in volutabro luti : quid mirum si 
Dei flagellantis futura judicia non cognoscit/' — • 
Part ii. page 182. Hence it happens that, instead 
of regretting his sins, he rejoices at them, he laughs 
at them, and boasts of them. " They are glad 
when they have done evil." — Prov. ii. 14. '* A fool 
worketh mischief as it were for sport." — Prov. x. 
23. Are not these clear signs of diabolical obdu- 
racy? They are, says St. Thomas of ViJlanova, all 
signs of damnation. " Induratio damnationis indi- 
cium." My brother, tremble lest this may happen 
to you. If you have contracted any evil habit, en- 
deavor to abandon it now that God calls you. Re- 
joice and be glad as long as conscience reproves you ; 
for it is a sign that God has not as yet abandoned 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 2l3 

you ; but amend, and instantly shake off the bad 
habits ; if you do not, the wound shall become gan- 
grenous, and you shall be lost. 

Affections and Prayers. 

O Lord, how shall I be able to thank thee as I 
ought for so many graces which thou hast bestowed 
upon me ? How often hast thou called, and I have 
resisted ! Instead of being grateful to thee, and 
loving thee, for having delivered me from hell, and 
for having called me with so much love, I have con- 
tinued to provoke thy wrath, by offering repeated 
insults to thee. O my God, I will no longer out- 
rage thy patience; I have offended thee enough. 
Thou alone, who art infinite goodness, couldst have 
borne with me till the present moment. But I now 
see that thou canst bear no longer with me. Par- 
don me then, O my Lord and my Sovereign Good ; 
pardon me all the injuries I have offered to thee. 
I am sorry for them with my whole heart, and pur- 
pose never more to offend thee. Shall I forever 
continue to provoke thee ? Ah ! be appeased with 
me, O God of my soul, not through my merits, for 
which nothing else is reserved but vengeance and hell, 
but through the merits of thy Son and my Redeem- 
er, in which I place all my hopes. For the love of 
Jesus Christ receive me into favor, and give me 
perseverance in thy love. Banish from me all im- 
pure affections, and draw me entirely to thyself 
I love thee, O supreme God ; I love thee, O sove- 
reign Lover of souls, who art worthy of infinite love. 
O that I had always loved thee! O Mary, my 
mother, obtain for me the grace to spend the re- 
mainder of my life not in offending, but in loving 
thy Son, and in bewailing the displeasure I have 
given him. 



214 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



THIRD POINT. 

When the understanding is deprived of light, and 
the heart hardened, the sinner ordinarily makes a 
bad end, and dies obstinate in his sin. " A hard 
heart shall fare ill at the end." — Eccl. iii. 27. 
The just continue to walk in the straight path. 
*' The path of the just is right to walk in." — Isa.xxvi. 
7. But habitual sinners always ** walk round about." 
— Ps. xi. 9. They give up sin for a little, and 
afterwards return to it. Their damnation St. Ber- 
nard regards as certain. *' Vae homini qui sequitur 
hunc circuitum." — Serm. xii., sup. Psal. xc. Some of 
them say, '' I will amend before death ; " but it is 
very difficult for an habitual sinner, even in his old 
age, to change his life. ** A young man," says the 
Holy Ghost, *' according to his way, even when he 
is old he will not depart from it." — Prov. xxii. 6. 
We are very weak. *' Your strength," says the 
prophet Isaias, *' shall be as the ashes of tow." — 
Isa. i. 31. Hence, as St. Thomas of Villanova 
says, (Cone. iv. Dom. Quad. 4,) the feoul deprived 
of grace cannot abstain from committing new sins. 
*'Cluo fit ut anima a gratia destituta diu evadere 
ulteriora peccata non possit." But would it not be 
the extreme of folly to play for, and voluntarily to 
lose, all your property, with the hope of winning it 
back in the last game? Such the folly of the man 
who continues to live in the midst of sins, and 
hopes in the last moments of life to repair all the 
evil he has done. Can the Ethiopian or the leop- 
ard change the color of his skin ? And how can 
he who has long indulged in the habit of sin, lead a 
good life? "If," says the prophet Jeremias, *' the 
Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his 
spots, you also may do well when you have learned 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 215 

evil." — Jer. xiii. 23. Hence the habitual sinner, 
in the end, abandons himself to despair. Such the 
manner in which his life terminates. ** But he that 
is hardened in mind shall fall into evil." — Prov. 
xxviii. 14. 

On the words of Job, */ He hath torn me with 
wound upon wound, he hath rushed in upon me 
like a giant," (Job xvi. 15,) St. Gregory says that 
a person may, perhaps, be able to defend himself 
after the first wound; but, after every additional 
one, he loses strength, till in the end he loses his 
life. So it is with sin. After the first and second 
transgression, the sinner shall have some strength, 
(that is, through the aid of God's grace;) but, if 
he continue in the habit of sin, it shall rush on him 
like a giant. How is it possible for the sinner to 
escape death after his strength has been diminished, 
and his woilnds multiplied ? ** Sin," as the prophet 
Jeremias says, '* like a huge stone, oppresses the 
sinner." — Lam. iii. 53. St. Bernard compares the 
habitual sinner to a man who has fallen under a 
large stone, which he has not strength to remove. 
It is as difficult for the former to shake off his bad 
habits, as it is for the latter to get rid of the load 
that presses upon him. " The man on whom the 
weight of a bad habit presses, rises with difficulty." 

The habitual sinner may say, ** Is my salvation then 
hopeless?" No, you are not beyond hope; if you 
wish to apply it, there is still a remedy for the past 
But a certain author says, that in grievous maladies 
very severe remedies are necessary. *' Praestat in 
magnis morbis a magnis auxiliis initium medendi 
sumere." — Cardin. Meth., cap. xvi. If to a sick 
man in danger of death, and unwilling to take 
medicine, because he is not aware of the malignity 
of his disease, the physician said, ** Friend, you shall 



216 PREPARATION FOR DEATH, 

certainly die unless you take such a medicine," 
what should be the answer of the invalid ? *^ Since/* 
he would say, *' my life is in danger, I am ready to 
obey all your directions.'* Dearly beloved Christian, 
if you are an habitual sinner, I say the same to you. 
You are very ill; you are one of those invalids 
who, as St. Thomas of Villanova says, are seldom 
cured; you are on the brink of perdition. But if 
you wish to recover from your illness, there is a 
remedy for you ; however, you must not expect a 
miracle of grace. You must on your part labor 
hard to take away the occasions of sin, to avoid bad 
company, to resist temptations by recommending 
yourself to God as soon as you perceive them : you 
mu&t adopt the means of salvation, by going fre- 
quently to confession, by reading a spiritual book 
every day, by practising devotion to most holy 
Mary, and continually imploring her to obtain for 
you strength not to relapse into sin. You must do 
violence to yourself; otherwise the threat of the 
Lord against obstinate sinners shall fall upon you. 
*^ You shall die in your sin." — John viii. 21. And 
if you do not adopt these means now that the Lord 
gives you light, you shall scarcely adopt them here- 
after. Listen to God calling you to repentance. 
Lazarus, come forth. Poor sinner ! you are long 
dead ; go forth from the dark grave of your sinful 
life. Respond at once to the call, and give your- 
self instantly to God. Tremble lest this should be 
the last call for you. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah ! my God, what do I wait for ? Will I wait 
till thou dost abandon me and send me to hell ? 
Ah 1 Lord, bear with me ; I wish to change my life, 
and to give myself to thee. Tell me what I must 
do, and I will do it. O blood of Jesus, assist me. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 217 

O Mary, advocate of sinners, come to my relief. 

eternal Father, have mercy on me .through the 
merits of Jesus and Mary. I am sorry, O God of 
infinite goodness, for having offended thee, and I 
love thee above ail things. Pardon me for the 
sake of Jesus Christ, and give me thy love. . Give 
me also a great fear of being lost, should I again 
offend thee. Light, O my God, light and strength. 

1 hope for every thing from thy mercy. .Thou 
didst bestow so many graces on me when I wan- 
dered at a distance from thee, I hope for far greater 
graces, now that I return to thee, resolved to love 
nothing but thee. I love thee, my God, my life, 
ray all. I love thee also, O my mother, Mary ; to 
thee I consign my soul ; preserve it by thy inter- 
cession from ever returning to a state of enmity 
with God, 



TWENTY-THIRD CONSIDERATION. 

THE DELUSIONS WHICH THE DEVIL SUG- 
GESTS TO SINNERS. 

["Although the preceding considerations contain many of the 
sentiments contained in this, it will be useful to collect 
them all together, in order to overturn the usual delusions 
by which the devil succeeds in inducing sinners to relapse.] 

FIEST POINT. 

Let us imagine a young man who has fallen into 
grievous sins, which he 'has already confessed, and 
who is restored to the friendship of God. The 
devil again tempts him to relapse; the young man 
resists for a while, but in consequence of the delu- 
19 



218 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

sions suggested by the enemy, he begins to vaciF- 
late. ** Tell nje, young man/' I say to him, ** what \ 
will you do? Will you now, for this miserable 
pleasure, forfeit the grace of God, which you have 
just acquired, and which is more valuable than the 
whole world ? Will you yourself write the sen- 
tence of eternal death, and condemn yourself to 
burn forever in hell V^ '*No,'' you answer, ** I do 
not wish to damn myself; I wish to he saved; if J 
commit this sin, I will afterwards confess it^ Be- 
hold the first delusion of the devil ! Then you say 
that you will afterwards confess it ; but in the mean 
time you lose your soul. Tell me, if you had a 
jewel worth a thousand crowns, would you throw it 
into a river, saying, *^ I will make a diligent search 
for it, and hope to find it? " You hold in your hand 
the precious jewel of your soul, which Jesus Christ 
has purchased with his blood, and you voluntarily 
cast it into hell, (for in punishment of every mortal 
sin, you are condemned to eternal fire,) and say, *' I 
hope to recover it by a good confession." But 
should you not recover it, what shall be the conse- 
quence ? To recover the divine grace, true re- 
pentance, which is the gift of God, is necessary. 
Should God not give you the grace of repentance, 
should death overtake you, and not allow you time ' 
to go to confession, what shall become of you 1 

You say that you will go to confession before the 
lapse of a week. And who promises you that you 
shall live for a week ? You then say that you will 
go to confession to-morrow. And who promises 
you to-morrow ? St. Augustine says, *' God has not 
promised to-morrow : perhaps he will give it, and 
perhaps he will not." Perhaps he will deny it to 
you, as he has to so many others who have gone to 
bed in good health, and have been found dead in 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 219 

*he morning. How many have been struck dead 
in the act of sin, and sent to hell ! .And should 
the same happen to you, how shall you be able to 
repair your eternal ruin ? Be assured that by this 
delusion, I will afterwards go to confession, the 
devil has brought thousands and thousands of Chris- 
tians to hell. It is difficult to find a sinner so 
abandoned to despair as to wish for his own damna- 
tion. In committing sin, all sinners hope to repent 
and go to confession ; it is thus that so many miser- 
able souls are lost ; and now there is no remedy for 
their damnation. 

But you say, ^^ At present I cannot resist tJtis 
temptation^' Behold the second delusion of the 
devil, who makes it appear to you that at present 
you have not strength to resist your passions. 
First, it is necessary to know that, as the apostle 
«ays, '^ God is faithful, and never permits us to be 
tempted above our strength." — I Cor. x. 13. 
Moreover, I ask, if you are now unable to resist 
your passions, how shall you be able to resist them 
hereafter? After you have yielded to one tempta- 
tion, the devil shall tempt you to other sins, and by 
your consent to sin he shall have gained an increase 
of strength against you, and you shall have become 
weaker. If, then, you are now unable to extinguish 
the flame of passion, how can you expect to extin- 
guish it when it shall have grown stronger ? You 
say, God will give you his aid. But this aid he gives 
you at present. Why, then, do you not correspond 
with his grace and conquer your passion ? Per- 
haps you expect that God will give you more abun- 
dant helps and graces after you have multiplied sins. 
If at present you wish for greater help and strength, 
why do you not ask them from God ? ** Ask and 
it shall be given you." — Matt. vii. 7. God cannot 
Fiolate his promise. Have recourse to him, and he 



220 PREPARATION FOR DEATi5. 

will give you the strength which you require in 
order to resist every temptation. *^God does not 
command impossibilities," says the Council of 
Trent, Sess. vi. cap. xi. ; *'but by his commands he 
admonishes us to do what we can with the actual 
aid which he gives us; and when this aid is not 
sufficient to enable us to resist temptations, he ex- 
horts us to ask additional help, which he gives 
whenever we pray for it." 

Affections and Prayers. 

Then, my God, why hast thou been so bountiful 
to me, and I so ungrateful to thee ? We have been 
engaged in a mutual contest. I fled away from thee, 
and thou didst seek after me. Thou didst confer 
benefits on me, I offered insults to thee. Ah, Lord ! 
the goodness alone which thou hast shown me 
ought to enamor me of thee ; for, when I multi- 
plied sins, thou didst multiply thy graces. And 
when have I merited the light which thou now givest 
me? My Lord, I thank thee for it with my whole 
heart, and I hope to thank thee for it eternally in 
heaven. I hope in thy blood for eternal salvation, 
and I hope for it with certainty, since thou hast 
treated me with so much mercy. I hope that thou 
wilt give me grace never more to betray thee. I 
purpose, with thy grace, to die a thousand times 
rather than ever again offend thee. I have offended 
thee sufficiently. During the remainder of my life 
I wish to love thee. And how can I but love a God 
who, after having died for me, has waited for me 
with so much patience, in spite of the numberless 
injuries I have done him? O God of my soul, I re- 
pent of all my sins with my whole heart ; I would 
wish to die of sorrow for them. But if I have 
hitherto turned my back upon thee, I now love thee 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 221 

above all things; I love thee more than myself. 
Eternal Father, through the merits of Jesus Christ, 
assist a miserable sinner, who wishes to love thee. 
Mary, my hope, assist me ; obtain for me the grace 
always to have recourse to thy Son and to thee, as 
often as the devil shall tempt me to offend God 
again. 

SECOND POINT. 

'* God is merciful^ Behold the third delusion of 
sinners, by which an immense number are lost ! A 
learned autlior says, that the mercy of God sends 
more souls to hell than his justice ; for sinners are 
induced, by a rash confidence in the divine mercy, 
to continue in sin, and thus are lost. God is mer- 
ciful. Who denies'it? But great as is his mercy, 
how many does he send to hell every day I God is 
merciful; but he is also just; and therefore he is 
bound to punish those who offend him. He shows 
mercy ; but to whom ? To them who fear him. 
'' He hath strengthened his mercy towards them 
that fear him. As a father hath compassion on his 
children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that 
fear him." — Ps. cii. 11, 13. But he executes jus- 
tice on those who despise him, and abuse his mercy 
to insult him the worse. God pardons sin ; but he 
cannot pardon the will or determination to sin. St. 
Augustine says, that he who sins with the intention 
of afterwards repenting, is not a penitent, but a 
mocker of God's majesty. *' Irrisor est non poen- 
itens." But the apostle tells us that God does not 
allow himself to be mocked. '* Be not deceived. 
God is not mocked.^* — Gal. vi. 7. It would be a 
mockery of God to insult him as often and as much 
as you please, and afterwards to expect heaven. 

^^ But as God has shown me so many mercies hith' 
19* 



222 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

ertOy so I hope he will treat me with merer/ hereafter." 
Behold the fourth delusion ! Then, must the Lord, 
because he has had compassion on you, show mer- 
cy forever, and never chastise you ? No ; the greater 
have been his mercies to you, the more you have 
reason to fear that, if you offend him again, he will 
pardon you no more, but will take vengeance on 
your sins. *' Say not, I have sinned, and what harm 
hath befallen me ? for the Most High is a patient 
rewarder." — Eccl. v. 4. Say not, I have sinned, 
and have not been punished ; for though God bears, 
he does not bear forever. When the number of 
mercies which he has resolved to show to the sin- 
ner is exhausted, he then punishes all his sins to- 
gether. And the longer God has waited for his re- 
pentance, the more severe shall be his punishment. 
"Quos diutius expectat," says St. Gregory, *' du- 
rius damnat.'* 

If, then, O my brother, you see that you have 
often offended God, and that he has not sent you to 
hell, you should say, " The mercies of the Lord 
that we are not consumed.^' — Lam. iii. 22. Lord, 
I thank thee for not having sent me to bell, as I de- 
served. Consider how many have been damned for 
fewer sins than you have committed, and labor to 
atone, by penance and other good works, for the 
offences you have offered to God. The patience 
which he has had with you, and the great mercies 
which he has shown to you, and not to others, ought 
to animate you not to offend him again, but to serve 
and love him. 

Affections and Prayers. 
My crucified Jesus, my Redeemer, and my God, 
behold a traitor at thy feet. I am ashamed to ap- 
pear before thee. How often have I mocked thee ! 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 223 

How often have I promised to offend thee no more ! 
But my promises have been so many treasons; for 
when the occasion of sin was presented to me, I have 
forgotten thee, and have again turned my back upon 
thee. I thank thee that I am not now in hell, but 
at thy feet, where thou enlightenest me, and callest 
me to thy love. Yes; I wish to love thee, my Sa- 
vior and my God, and 1 wish never more to despise 
thee. Thou hast borne with me long enough. I 
see that thou canst bear with me no longer. Un- 
happy me, if, after so many graces, I offend thee 
again ! Lord, I sincerely wish and resolve to change 
my life; I wish to love thee as much as I have of- 
fended thee. It consoles me to have to deal with 
thee, who art infinite goodness. But I am sorry 
above all things for having so much despised thee ; 
and I promise thee all my love for the future. Par- 
don me through the merits of thy passion ; forget 
the injuries I have done thee, and give me strength 
to be faithful to thee during the remainder of my 
life. I love thee, O my Sovereign Good, and I hope 
to love thee forever. My dear God, I will never 
more abandon thee. O Mary, mother of God, bind 
me to Jesus Christ, and obtain me the grace never 
again to depart from his feet. In thee I trust. 

THIRD POINT. 

*^ But I am young, God compassionates youth. I 
mill hereafter give myself to GodJ^ We are now 
at the fifth delusion. But do you not know that 
God counts, not the years, but the sins of each in- 
dividual ? You are young! But how many sins 
have you committed ? There are many persons of 
very advanced age who have not been guilty of the 
tenth part of the sins which you have committed 



224 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

And do you not know that God has fixed the num« 
her and measure of sins which he will pardon each? 
*' The Lord waiteth patiently/' says the holy Scrip- 
ture, " that when the day of judgment shall come, 
he may punish them in the fulness of their sins." — 
2 Macch. vi. 14. That is, God has patience, and 
waits for a certain time ; but when the measure of 
sins which he has resolved to pardon, is filled up, 
he pardons no more, but chastises the sinner by 
sending him a sudden death while in the state of 
damnation; or he abandons him in his sin — a chas- 
tisement worse than death. '' I will take away the 
hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted." — Isa. v. 5. 
If you had encompassed a field with a hedge, and 
cultivated it for many years, and found that, after all 
your labor and expense, it produced no fruit, what 
would you do with it? Would you not take away 
the hedge and abandon it ? Tremble lest God 
should treat you in a similar manner. If you con- 
tinue to offend him, you shall gradually lose re- 
morse of conscience ; you shall cease to think of 
eternity, or of the salvation of your soul ; you shall 
lose all light and fear : behold the hedge taken 
away; behold your soul already abandoned by 
God. 

Let us come to the last delusion. You say, 
" It is true that, if I commit this sin, I shall lose 
the grace of God, and shall be condemned to hell ; 
it may he that in punishment of it I shall he damned; 
but it may also happen that I shall afterwards make 
a good confession, and save my soul.'' Yes, it may, 
I admit, happen that you shall be saved ; for I am 
not a prophet, and therefore cannot say for certain, 
that, if you commit this sin, God will show you no 
more mercy. But you cannot deny that, if, after 
the great graces which God has bestowed upon 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 225 

you, you offend him again, you shall expose yourself 
to very great danger of being lost forever. Attend 
to the language of the Scripture — *' A hard heart 
shall fare evil at the last/' — Eccl. iii. 27. "Evil 
doers shall be cut off.'' — Ps. xxxvi. 9. The wick- 
ed sh'all in the end be cut off by divine justice. 
*' What things a man shall sow, those also shall he 
reap." — Gal. vi. 8. He that sows sins shall reap 
nothing but pains and torments. ^^ I called, and 

you refused I will laugh in your destruction, 

and will mock when that shall come to you which 
you feared." — Prov. i. 24. I have called you, 
says the Lord, and you have mocked me ; but I 
will mock you at the hour of death. *' Revenge is 
mine, and I will repay them in due time." — Deut. 
xxxii. ^35. To me belongs the punishment due to 
sins ; I will inflict it when the time of vengeance 
arrives. Such the threats of the Scriptures against 
obstinate sinners ; such the chastisement which 
reason and justice demand. You say, '* It may 
happen, after all, that I shall he saved^ I again 
admit that this may happen ; but is it not the height 
of folly to trust the eternal salvation of your soul to 
di perhaps? — to a possibility of escaping hell when 
your salvation is very improbable? Is eternal 
life an affair to be exposed to such eminent dan- 
ger? 

Affections and Prayers. 

My dear Redeemer, prostrate at thy feet, I thank 
thee for not having abandoned me after I had com- 
mitted so many sins. How many, who have offended 
thee less than I have, shall never receive the light 
which thou now givest me ! I see that thou dost 
earnestly desire my salvation, and I wish to be 
saved, principally for the sake of pleasing thee. I 



226 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

wish for heaven, that there I may eternally sing 
the mercies which thou hast shown me. I hope 
that thou hast already pardoned me. But should I 
still be thy enemy, in consequence of not repenting 
as I ought of the offences I have offered to thee, I 
am now sorry for them with my whole soul ; they 
displease me above all things. Pardon me for thy 
mercy's sake, and increase continually my sorrow 
for having offended thee, who art so good a God. 
Give me sorrow — give me love. I love thee above 
all things, but I love thee too little. I wish to love 
thee ardently. This love I ask and hope for from, 
thee. Hear me, O my Jesus; thou hast promised 
to hear ail who pray to thee. O Mary, mother of 
God, all tell me that thou never dost allow a soul 
that recommends herself to thee, to go away dis- 
consolate. I trust in thee ; recommend me to thy 
Son, and obtain for me eternal life. 



TWENTY-FOURTH CONSIDERATION. 



ON THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT. 

•* We must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of 
Christ."— 2 Cor. v. 10. 



FIRST POINT. 

Consider the appearance, the accusation, the 
examination, and the sentence. With regard to 
the appearance of the soul before her Judge, it is 
the common opinion of theologians, that the par- 
ticular judgment takes place at the very mojnent of 
death; and that on the very spot where the soul is 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 227 

separated from the body, she is judged by Je- 
sus Christy who shall not send, but will come him- 
self, to judge her according to her works. "At 
wiiat hour you think not, the Son of man will 
come." — Luke xii. 40. ''He will," says St, 
Augustine, " come in love to the good, in terror 
to the wicked." O, how great shall be the terror 
of the soul the first time she shall see the Redeeni- 
er, and she shall see his countenance full of wrath!. 
" Who," says the prophet Nahum, *' shall stand 
before the face of his indignation?" — Nahum i. 6. 
This thought made Father Lewis da Ponte tremble 
so as to shake the cell in which he lay. Hearing 
the Dies Irm sung, and reflecting on the terror of 
the soul when she shall be presented before the tri- 
bunal of Jesus Christ, the venerable P. Juvenal 
Ancina took, and afterwards executed, the resolu- 
tion of forsaking the world. The sight of the wrath 
of the Judge shall announce the sentence. " The 
wrath of the king h as messengers of death." — 
Prov. xvi. 14. St. Bernard says that the soul shall 
suffer more in seeing the indignation of Jesus 
Christ, than in hell itself *' Mallet esse in in- 
ferno." When presented before an earthly judge, 
criminals have been known to fall into a cold 
sweat. Such was the confusion which Piso felt at 
the thought of appearing as a criminal before the 
senate, that he killed himself. How great is the' 
pain of a child, or of a vassal, in appearing before 
an angry parent, or an enraged sovereign ! O, 
how much greater shall be the pair and confusion 
of the soul when she shall behold Jesus Christ en- 
raged against her for the insults which she offered 
to him during life ! '* They shall look upon me, 
whom they have pierced." — Zach. xii. 10. The 
K>ul shall see: in wrath the Lamb that bore with lier 



228 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

SO patiently during life, and that there is no hope 
of appeasing his anger. This shall make her call 
upon the mountains to fall upon her, and to hide 
her from the fury of the wrathful Lamb. — Apoc. 
vi. 16. Speaking of judgment, St. Luke says, 
**Then they shall see the Son of man.'' — Luke 
xxi. 27. O, what pain shall the sight of the Judge 
in the form of a man excite in the soul of the sin- 
ner ! The sight of a man-God, who had died for 
his salvation, shall upbraid him with his ingratitude. 
When the Savior ascended into heaven, the angels 
said to the disciples, ** This Jesus, who is taken 
up from you into heaven, shall so come as you 
have seen him going into heaven." — Acts i. 11. 
With the same wounds with which he ascended 
into heaven, Jesus Christ shall come to judge the 
soul. *^ Great joy of the beholders," says the abbot 
Rupert, *^ great terror of those who are in expec- 
tation." The wounds of the Redeemer shall con- 
sole the just and terrify the wicked. When Joseph 
said to his brothers, " I am Joseph, whom you 
sold," the Scripture tells us, that, through fear, 
they were silent and unable to utter a word. ** His 
brethren could not answer him, being struck with 
exceeding great fear." — Gen. xlv. 3. Now, what 
answer shall the sinner make to Jesus Christ? 
Will he dare to ask mercy when he must first ren- 
der an account of his abuse of the mercy which he 
has received ? ** With what face," says Eusebius 
Emissenus, •* will you, who are to be first judged 
for contempt of mercy, ask for mercy?" What 
then shall become of him ? *' Where," says St. 
Augustine, *' shall he fly? He shall behold an an- 
gry Judge above ; hell open below ; on one side, 
his own sins accusing him ; on the other, the 
devils ready to inflict chastisement; and within, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 229 

the remorses of his own conscience. * Above, 
shall be an enraged Judge; below, a frightful 
chaos ; on the right, sins accusing him ; on the 
left, the devils dragging him to punishment; with- 
in, a burning conscience; whither shall the sinner 
beset in this manner fly ? ' " 

Affections and Prayers. 

O my Jesus, I will always call thee Jesus. Thy 
name consoles and encourages me, because it re- 
minds me that thou art my Savior, who hast died 
for my salvation. Behold me at thy feet. I ac- 
knowledge that I have deserved hell as often as I 
have offended thee by mortal sin. I am unworthy 
of pardon, but thou hast died to merit pardon for 
me. Pardon me, then, immediately, O my Jesus, 
before thou comest to judge me. I shall not then 
be able to ask pardon ; I can now ask it from thee, 
and I hope for it. Thy wounds shall then fill me 
with terror, but now they give me confidence. My 
dear Redeemer, I am sorry above all things for 
having offended thy infinite goodness. I purpose to 
submit to every pain, every loss, rather than forfeit 
thy grace. I love thee with my whole heart. Have 
pity on me. *' Have mercy on me, O God, accord- 
ing to thy great mercy." O Mary, mother of mercy, 
obtain for me a great sorrow for my sins, pardon, 
and perseverance in the divine love. I love thee, 
O my queen, and trust in thee. 

SECOND POINT. 

Consider the accusation and scrutiny. ** The 

judgment sat and the books were opened." — Daji. 

vii. 10. There shall be two books, the Gospel and 

conscience. In the Gospel shall be read what the 

20 



230 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

accused should have done, and in his conscience, 
what he has done. Each individual, says St. Jer- 
ome, shall see what he has done. In the balance 
of divine justice, neither riches, nor dignities, nor 
nobility, but works only, shall have weight. ** Thou 
art weighed in the balance,'' said Daniel to Balthas- 
sar, '' and art found wanting." — Dan. v. 27. Nei- 
ther his gold, says Father Alvarez, nor his wealth, 
but the king alone, is weighed. The accusers shall 
then come forward ; and first of all the devil. '* The 
devil," says St. Augustine, ** shall be at hand, and 
shall recite the words of your profession. He will 
charge us before our face with all that we have 
done, he will state the day and the hour in which 
we have sinned." — Con. Jud. torn. vi. He loill 
recite the words of your profession ; that is, he will 
bring forward the promises we have made and af- 
terwards violated ; he will recount all our sins, 
pointing to the day and hour in which they were 
committed. According to St. Cyprian, he will then 
say to the Judge, ** I have suffered neither stripes 
nor scourges for these men." I have suffered noth- 
ing for this ungrateful sinner ; and, to become my 
slave, he has forsaken you, who have died for his 
salvation; he therefore belongs tome. Their angels 
guardians shall also, asOrigen says, accuse sinners; 
each of them shall say, I have labored so many 
years for the salvation of that man, but he has de- 
spised my admonitions. ** Unusquisque angelorum 
perhibet testimonium quot annis circa eum laborav- 
erit, sed ille monita sprevit." — Hom. Ixvi. Thus 
his very friends shall then despise him. — Lam. i. 2. 
The very walls w^ithin which he sinned shall bear 
witness against the sinner. " The stone shall cry 
out of the wall." — Habacuc ii. 11. Hisown con- 
science shall accuse him. " Their conscience," 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 231 

says St. Paul, " bearing witness to them .... in the 
day when God shall judge the secrets of men/' — 
Rom. ii. 15, 16. Their very sins, says St. Bernard, 
shall speak and say, *' You have made us; we are 
your works ; we shall not desert you."' — Lib. Med. 
cap. ii. Finally, according to St. Chrysostom, the 
wounds of Jesus Christ shall accuse the sinner; 
** The nails shall complain of thee, the wounds and 
the cross of Christ shall speak against thee." '^ Clavi 
de te conquerentur, cicatrices contra te loquentur : 
crux Christi contra te perorabit." — Horn, in Matt. 
The scrutiny shall now commence. 

** I," says the Lord, '' will search Jerusalem with 
lamps." — Soph. i. 12. _ The lamp, says Mendozza, 
penetrates every corner of the house. " Lucerna 
omnes angulos permeat." In explaining the words 
with lamps, Cornelius a Lapide says, that God shall 
then place before the sinner the examples of the 
saints, all the lights and inspirations bestowed upon 
him during his life, and all the years that had been 
given him that he might do good. ** He hath called 
against me the time." — Lam. i. 15. The sinner 
shall have to render an account of every glance of 
the eye. '* Exigetur ate," says St. Anselm, " usque 
ad ictum oculi.*' According to the prophet Mai- 
achy, the Lord ^' shall purify the sons of Levi, and 
shall refine them as gold." — Mai. iii. 3. As gold 
is refined by removing the dross, so our good works, 
our confessions and communions, shall be subjected 
to a severe examination. '' When I shall take a 
time, I will judge justices." — Ps. Ixxiv. 3. In fine, 
St. Peter tells us that, at judgment, the just shall 
scarcely be saved. '' If the just man shall scarcely 
be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner 
appear ? " — 1 Peter iv. 18. If the sinner must 
answer for every idle word, what account shall he 



232 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

have to give for consenting to so many bad thouo-hts, 
for uttering so many obscene words ? Si de verbo 
otioso ratio poscitur quid de verbo impuritatis ? 
Speaking of the authors of scandal, who have robbed 
him of so many souls, the Lord says, '* I will meet 
them as a bear that is robbed of her whelps." — Osee 
xiii. 8. With regard to w'orks, the Judge shall say, 
"Give her of the fruit of her hands/^ — Prov. xxxi. 
31. Reward him accordino^to the works which he 
has performed. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Jesus, wert thou now to reward me accord- 
ing to my works, hell should be my lot. O God, 
how often have I myself written the sentence of ray 
condemnation to that place of torments ! I thank 
thee for the patience with which thou hast borne me 
so long. O God, were I now obliged to appear be- 
fore thy judgment-seat, w'hat account should I have 
to render of my past life! " Enter not into judg- 
ment with thy servant.'^ Ah, Lord, wait for me a 
little longer ; do not judge me yet. Wert thou now 
to judge me, what should become of me ? Wait for 
me : since thou hast treated me with so many mer- 
cies hitherto, grant me this new favor, — infuse into 
my heart a great sorrow for my sins. I am sorry, 
O infinite Good, for having so often despised thee. I 
love thee above all things. Eternal Father, pardon 
me for the love of Jesus Christ; and, through his 
merits, grant me holy perseverance. My Jesus, I 
hope for all things from thy blood. Most holy Mary, 
in thee I trust. '^^ Turn, then, O most gracious 
advocate, thy eyes of mercy towards us.'* Behold 
ray miseries, and have pity on me. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 233 



THIRD POINT. 

In fine, to obtain eternal life, the soul must be 
found at judgment to have led a life conformable 
to the life of Jesus Christ. " Whom he foreknew, 
he predestinated to be made conformabJe to the 
image of his Son." — Rom. viii. 29. It was this 
that made Job tremble. '* What shall I do when 
God shall rise to judge me ? and when he shall ex- 
amine, what shall I answer him V^ — Job xxxi. 14. 
Philip the Second, rebuking a domestic for having 
told him a lie, said to him, " Is it thus you deceive 
mcV^ The domestic went home, and died of grief. 
What shall the sinner do ? What answer shall he 
make to Jesus Christ, his Judge ? He shall, like 
the man in the Gospel, who came to the feast with- 
out the nuptial garment, remain silent, because he 
shall not know what to answer. — Matt. xxii. 12. 
*^ His very sins shall close the sinner's mouth.'' — 
*' All iniquity shall stop her mouth." — Ps. cvi. 42. 
St. Basil says that the sinner shall then suffer more 
from shame, than from the very fire of hell. " Hor- 
ridior quam ignis, erit pudor." 

Finally, the Judge v/ill pass sentence. *' Depart 
from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire." — Matt. 
XXV. 41. O, what an awful thunder-clap shall that 
sentence be to the sinner ! '' O, how frightfully," 
says the Carthusian, " shall that thunder resound ! " 
^' He," says St. Anselm, '* that does not tremble at 
such thunder, sleeps not, but is dead." Eusebius 
writes, that the terror of sinners at hearing the sen- 
tence of their condemnation, shall be so great, that, 
if they could, they would die again. *' The wicked 
shall be seized with such dismay at the sight of the 
Judge pronouncing sentence, that, were they not 
immortal, they should die a second time." There 
20* 



234 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

is then no more time for prayer, no more interces- 
sors whom the sinner can invoke. ** There/* says 
St. Thomas of Villanova, *' there is no opportunity 
of praying; there no intercessor, no friend, no 
father shall assist.'' To whom shall the sinner then 
have recourse? Is it to God, whom he has so much 
despised? ^' Who,'' says St. Basil, ** shall deliver 
you ? Is it that God whom you have insulted ? " ^- 
St. Basil, Orat. iv. de Poenit. Perhaps he may have 
recourse to the saints, or to Mary ? No ; for then 
" tJie^tars " — that is, his holy advocates — ** shall 
fall from heanen^ and the moon " — which represents 
Mary — *' shall not give her lights* — Matt. xxiv. 29. 
*^Mary," says St. Augustine, ** will fly from the 
gate of heaven." — Serm. iii. ad Fratres. 

O God ! with what indifference, exclaims St, 
Thomas of Villanova, do we listen to persons speak- 
ing on judgment ! We appear to feel as little as if 
the sentence of condemnation could not fall upon 
ourselves, or as if we were not to be judged. 
** Heu quam securi haec dicimus et audimus, quasi 
non tangeret haec sententia, aut quasi dies ilie nun- 
quam esset venturus." — Cone. i. de Judic. And 
is it not, says the same saint, great folly to enter- 
tain security in so perilous an affair ? ** Quae est 
ista stulta securitas in discrimine tanto?" My 
brother, St. Augustine admonishes you not to say. 
Will God really send me to hell ? ** Nunquid Deus 
vere damnaturus est ? " ** Say it not," says the 
holy doctor; *' for even the Jews did not persuade 
themselves that they should be exterminated. So 
many of the damned did not believe that they 
should be cast into hell, but afterwards the final 
Tengeance came upon them. * An end is come, 
the end is come, .... Now I will accomplish my 
anger in thee, and will judge thee/ " — Ez. vii. 6, 8. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 235 

And thus, as St. Augustine says, the same shall 
also happen to you. *' The day of judgment shall 
come, and you shall find the threats of God veri- 
fied." At present it depends on us to choose 
whatever sentence we please. It is in our power, 
says St. Eligius, to determine the character of the 
sentence which we shall receive. *'In potestate 
nostra datur qualiter judicemur.'' What, then, 
must we do? We must adjust our accounts before 
judgment. '* Before judgment, prepare thee jus- 
tice." — Eccl. xviii. 19. St. Bonaventure ^says 
that, to escape the danger of failing in business, 
prudent merchants frequently review and settle 
their accounts. Let us then say with St. Bernard, 
'*Volo judicatus prassentari, non judicandus." O 
my Judge, I wish to be judged and punished 
during life, which is a time of mercy and pardon ; 
for after death shall be the time of justice. 

Affections and Prayers. 

My God, if I do not appease thee now, there 
shall then be no more time for turning away thy 
anger. But how shall 1, who have so cften de- 
spised thy friendship for m.iserabie, beastly plea.s- 
ares, be <*ible to appease thy wrath ? 1 have repaid 
with ingratitude thy immense lov€. How can a 
creature ever make sufficient satisfaction for having 
offended the Creator? Ah, my Lord, I thank thee 
for giving me, in thy mercy, a means of appeasing 
thine anger and satisfying thy justice. I offer thee 
the blood and the death of Jesus Christ, thy Son ; 
and behold ! I see a superabundant atonement and 
satisfiiction made to thee. To appease thy anger, 
my repentance is also necessary. Yes, my God, I 
repent with my whole heart of all the injuries I have 
done thee. Judge me now, O my Redeemer. I 



236 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

detest above all things all the offences I have offered 
to thee. I love thee with my whole heart and 
above all things, and I purpose to love thee always, 
and to die rather than ever offend thee again. 
Thou hast promised to pardon all who repent 
Ah! judge me now, and absolve me from my sins. 
I accept the punishment which I deserve; but re- 
instate me in thy grace, and preserve me in it till 
death. Such my hope. O Mary, my mother, I 
thank thee for all the mercies which thou hast ob- 
tained ibr me. Ah ! continue to protect me to the 
end. 



TWENTY-FIFTH CONSIDERATION. 



ON THE GENERAL JUDGMENT. 

** The Lord shall be known when he executeth judgment." — 
Ps. ix. 17. 



FIRST POINT. 

At present, there is no one in this world more 
despised than Jesus Christ. There is more respect 
shown to a peasant than to the Lord ; for we are 
afraid to insult a peasant, or provoke him to anger, 
lest he should seek revenge. But insults are offered 
to God, and are repeated as wantonly as if he could 
not avenge them whenever he pleases. *' The 
wicked," says Job, *^ looked upon the Almighty as 
if he could do nothing." — Job xxii. 17. There- 
fore the Redeemer has appointed a day of general 
judgment, and which is called, in the Scripture, the 
day of the Lord, on which Jesus Christ will make 
known the greatness of his majesty. *' The Lord 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 237 

shalJ be known when he executeth judgment." — 
Ps. ix. 17. Hence that day is called, not a day of 
mercy and pardon, but ** a day of wrath, a day of 
tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and 
misery." — Soph. i. 15. Yes ; for then the Lord 
shall come to repair the honor which sinners have 
sought to take from him on this earth. Let us ex- 
amine the circumstances of the judgment of this 
great day. 

The coming of the Judge shall be preceded by 
fire. *' A fire shall go before him." — Ps. xcvi. 3. 
Fire shall descend from heaven, and shall burn the 
earth and all things upon the earth. '^ The earth, 
and the works which are in it, shall be burnt up." 
— 2 Pet. iii. 10. Thus palaces, churches, villas, 
cities, kingdoms, all must be reduced to one heap of 
ashes. This house, defiled by sins, must be puri- 
fied by fire. Behold the end of all the riches, 
pomps, and pleasures of this earth ! After the death 
of all men, '* the trumpet shall sound, and the dead 
shall rise again." — 1 Cor. xv.52. " As often," says 
Jerome, ** as I consider the day of judgment, I trem- 
ble; that trumpet appears always to sound in my 
ears, ' Arise, ye dead, and come to judgment.' '^ — In 
Matt. cap. V. At the sound of this trumpet, the 
souls of the just shall descend to be united to the 
bodies with which they served God in this life ; and 
the unhappy souls of the damned shall come up 
from hell to take possession of the accursed bodies 
with which they offended God. 

O, how great shall be the difference between the 
bodies of the just and the bodies of the damned! 
The just shall appear whiter, more beautiful, and 
more resplendent than the sun. '' Then the just 
shall shine as the sun." — Matt. xiii. 43. Happy 
he who knows how to mortify his flesh in his life by 



238 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

refusing it forbidden pleasures ; and who, to keep 
it under greater check, imitates the saints, by deny- 
ing it even lawful gratifications, and by treating it 
with severity and contempt. O, how great shall 
then be the happiness of those who shall have prac- 
tised mortification of the flesh ! We may estimate 
it from the words which St. Peter of Alcantara 
addressed after death to St. Teresa. *' O happy 
penance, which merited for me such great glory ! '* 
But, on the other hand, the bodies of the reprobate 
shall appear black>and hideous, and shall send forth 
an intolerable stench. O, how great the pain of 
the damned in taking possession of their bodies! 
"Accursed body!'' the soul shall say; *Uo indulge 
you, I have brought myself to perdition." And the 
body shall say, *' Accursed soul ! why have you, who 
had the use of reason, allowed me the pleasures which 
have merited for you and me the eternal torments 
of hell?" 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Jesus and my Redeemer, w^ho shall be 
one day my Judge, pardon me before that day arrives. 
*' Turn not away thy face from me." — Ps. xxvi. 9. 
Thou art now a Father to me; and, like a father, 
receive into thy friendship a son who casts himself 
with sorrow at thy feet. My Father, I ask pardon. 
I have offended thee; I have unjustly forsaken thee. 
Thou didst not deserve such treatment from me. I 
repent of it ; I am sorry for it with my whole heart 
*' Turn not away thy face from me ; '^ do not cast 
me off, as I deserved. Remember the blood which 
thou hast shed for me, and have pity on me. My 
Jesus, I wish for no other judge than thee. ** I 
willingly," said St. Thomas of Villanova, '* submit 
to the judgment of him who died for me, and who, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 239 

that he might not condemn me, has condemned 
himself to the cross." St. Paul has said the same. 
" Who is he that shalJ condemn ? Christ Jesus, that 
died." — Rom. viii. 34. My Father, I love thee, 
and, for the future, I will never more depart from 
thy feet. Forget the injuries I have done thee, and 
give me a great love for thy goodness. I desire to 
love thee more than I have offended thee ; but, if 
thou dost not assist me, I shall not be able to love 
thee. Assist me, O my Jesas ; make me always 
grateful to thy love, that, on the day of judgment, I 
may be found in the valley of Josaphat, among the 
number of thy lovers. O Mary, my queen and my 
advocate, assist me now ; for if I am lost, thou shalt 
not be able to help me on that day. Thou pray est 
for all ; pray also for one who glories in being thy 
devoted servant, and who places so much confidence 
in thee. 

SECOND POINT. 

After their resurrection, all men shall be told by 
the angels to go to the valley of Josaphat, that there 
tibey may be judged. ** Nations, nations, in the 
valley of destruction ; for the day of the Lord is 
near." — Joel iii. 14. When the whole human 
race shall be assembled, the angels shall come and 
separate the reprobate from the elect. ** The angels 
shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from 
among the just." — Matt. xiii. 49. The just shall 
stand on the right, and the wicked shall be driven 
to the left. How great the pain which you should 
feel at being driven away from a party of pleasure, 
or at being expelled from the church ! But how 
much greater shall be the pain of those who shall be 
banished from the society of the saints ! ** What 
think you," says the author of the Imperfect Work, 



240 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

" must be the confusion of the wicked, when, after 
being separated from the just, they shall be aban- 
doned ? '' — Hom. liv. This confusion alone would, 
according to St. Chrysostom, be sufficient to con- 
stitute a hell for the reprobate. " Et si nihil ulte- 
rius paterentur, istasola verecundia sufficeret eis ad 
poenam.'' — In Matt. cap. xxiv. The son shall be 
separated from the father, the husband from the 
wife, and the master from the servant. '^ One shall 
be taken, and one shall be left." — Matt. xxiv. 40. 
Tell me, my brother, what place do you think shall 
fall to you ? Would you wish to be found at the 
right hand ? If you do, abandon the life which 
leads to the left. 

In this life, the princes of the earth and the worldly 
rich are considered fortunate, but the saints, who 
live in poverty and humiliations, are despised. O 
faithful souls, who love God, be not troubled at see- 
ing yourselves in contempt and tribulations on this 
earth. ''Your sorrow shall be turned into joy." — 
John xvi. 20. On the day of judgment you shall be 
called truly fortunate, and shall have the honor of 
beinor declared to behmcr to the court of Jesus Christ. 
O, how beautiful shall then be the appearance of 
St. Peter of Alcantara, who was despised as an apos- 
tate ! of St. John of God, who was treated as a 
fool ! of St. Peter Celestine, who, after having re- 
nounced the popedom, died in a prison ! O, how 
great shall then be the honors of so many martyrs 
who have been torn in pieces by their executioners I 
" Then shall every man have praise from God." — 
1 Cor. iv. 5. But, on the other hand, how horrible 
shall be the appearance of Herod, of Pilate, of Nero, 
and of so many other great men of this earth who 
are now damned ! O lovers of the world, in the 
valley, in the valley I expect you. There, without 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 241 

doubt, you shall change your sentiments ; there you 
shall weep over your folly. Miserable beings, who, 
for the sake of making a figure for a short time on 
the theatre of this world, shall afterwards have to 
act the part of reprobates in the tragedy of judg- 
ment ! The elect shall then be placed on the right ; 
according to the apostle, they shall, for their greater 
glory, be raised in the air above the clouds, and 
shall go with the angels to meet Jesus Christ de- 
scending from heaven. " We shall be taken up to- 
gether with them to meet Christ into the air." — 
1 Thess. iv. 16. But the damned, like so many 
goats destined for the slaughter, shall be compelled 
to remain at the left, waiting for the Judge, who 
shall publicly pronounce sentence of condemnation 
against all his e«iemies. 

But, behold! the heavens are already opened; the 
angels come to assist at the judgment, carrying the 
symbols of the passion of Jesus Christ. ** When," 
says St. Thomas, *' the Lord comes to judgment, 
the sign of the cross and the other emblems of his 
passion shall be exhibited." — Opus ii. c. ccxliv. 
The cross especially shall appear. '' And then," 
says the Redeemer, '' shall appear the sign of the 
Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes 
of the earth mourn." — Matt. xxiv. 30. O, says 
Cornelius a Lapide, how great, at the sight of the 
cross, shall be the wailing of sinners who, during 
life, disregarded their own salvation, which the 
Son of God purchased at so dear a price ! *' Plan- 
gent qui salutem suam quse Christo tam caro ste- 
tit, neglexerint." ** Then," says St. Chrysostom, 
''shall the nails complain of thee; the wounds, the 
cross of Christ, shall speak against thee." *' Ciavi 
de te conquerentur, cicatrices contra te loquentur, 
crux Christ! contra te perorabit." — Horn, xx, in 
21 



242 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Matt. The holy apostles and all their imitators 
shall assist as assessors at the general judgment, 
4nd shall, together with Jesus Christ, judge the 
nations. ** The just shall shine. . . . They shall 
judge nations " — Wis. iii. 7, 8. Most holy Mary, 
the queen of angels and saints, shall also come 
to assist at the judgment. Lastly, the eternal 
/udge shall come seated on a throne of majesty 
And light. ''And they shall see the Son of man 
coming in the clouds of heaven with much power 
and majesty.'' — Matt. xxiv. 30. ** At their pres- 
ence," says the prophet Joel, *' the people shall be 
in grievous pains." — Joel ii. 6. The sight of 
Jesus Christ shall console the elect ; but in the 
reprobate it shall excite more pain than hell itself. 
'* It would," says St. Jerome, '* be easier to bear the 
pains of hell than the presence of the Lord." St 
Teresa used to say, *' My Jesus, afflict me with 
every pain, but do not allow me to see your counte- 
nance enraged against me on that day." And St. 
Basil says, " This confusion surpasses all torture.^' 
Then shall be verified the prediction of St. Johq, 
that the damned shall call upon the mountains to 
fall upon them, and to hide them from the sight 
of an angry Judge. *' And they shall say to the 
mountains and rocks. Fall upon us, and hide us 
from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, 
and from tiie wrath of the Lamb." — Apoc. vi. 16. 

Affections and Prayers. 

O my dear Redeemer, O Lamb of God, who 
hast come into the world, not to punish, but to par- 
don sins, ah, pardon me immediately ; pardon me 
before the arrival of that day on which thou shalt 
judge roe. Then the sight of thee, O divine Lamb, 
who bast borne with me so long and with so much 



PREPARATION" FOR I>EATHf. 243 

patience, should, if I were lost, be the hell of my 
hell. Ah ! I say again, pardon me soon ; draw me 
by thy merciful hand from the abyss into which niy 
sins have cast me. I repent, O Sovereign Good^ 
of having offended thee, and of having offended 
thee so grievously. 1 love thee, my Judge, who 
hast loved me so tenderly. Ah ! through the 
merits of thy death, grant me a great grace, which 
shall transform me from a sinner into a saint. Thou 
hast promised to hear all who pray to thee. ** Cry 
to me, and I will hear thee.** — Jer. xxxiii. 3. I 
do not ask earthly goods; I ask thy grace, thy 
love, and nothing else. Hear me, O my Jesus, 
through the love which thou didst bear to me when 
thou diedst on the cross for my salvation. My be- 
loved Judge, I am a criminal, but a criminal who 
loves thee more than he loves himself. Have pity 
on me. Mary, my mother, come to my aid, and 
come immediately ; now is the time that thou canst 
assist me. Thou didst not abandon me when I lived 
in forgetfulness of thee and of God ; come to my re- 
lief now that I am resolved to serve tliee always, 
and never more to offend my Lord. O Mary, after 
Jesus, thou art my hope. 

TILint> POINT. 

But, behold ! the judgment commences. The 
books, which shall be the consciences of each 
individual, are opened. *' The judgment sat, and 
the books were opened." — Dan. vii. 10. The 
witnesses against the reprobate shall be, first, the 
devils, who, according to St. Augustine, shall say, 
" Most just God, declare him to be mine who was 
unwilling to be yours." Secondly, they shall be 
their own consciences, ** their own conscienc« 



244 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

bearing witness to them.'' — Rom. ii. 15. The 
very walls of the house in which they have offended 
God shall bear testimony, and shall cry for ven- 
geance against them. *' The stone shall cry out 
of the wall." — Hab. ii. 11. Finally, the Judge 
himself, who has been present at all the insults 
offered to him, shall give evidence against the sin- 
ner. *^I am the Judge and the Witness, saith the 
Lord." — Jer. xxix. 23. St. Paul says, that then 
the Lord *' will bring to light the hidden things of 
darkness." — 1 Cor. iv. 5. He will make known 
to all men the most secret and shameful sins in the 
reprobate, which they concealed even in the tribu- 
nal of confession. ^^I will discover thy shame to 
thy face." — Nahum iii. 5. The Master of the 
Sentences, along with other authors, is of opinion 
that the sins of the elect shall not be manifested ; but 
shall, according to the words of David, be covered. 
** Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, 
and whose sins are covered." — Ps. xxxi. 1. But 
St. Basil teaches, that with a single glance all shall 
see, as in a picture, the sins of the damned. 
** Unico intuitu singula peccata velut in pictura 
noscentur." — Lib. i. de Ver. Virg. If, says St, 
Thomas, (Opus Ix.) in the garden of Gethsemani, 
at the words of Christ, **/ am 7ie," the soldiers 
who came tQ take him prisoner fell prostrate on the 
ground, what shall be the condition of the damned, 
when, sitting in judgment, he shall say to them, 
** Behold, I am he whom you have so much de- 
spised " ? 

But now the sentence comes on. Jesus Christ 
shall first turn to the elect, and address them in 
these consoling words: ** Come, ye blessed of my 
Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you 
from the foundation of the world." — Matt. xxv. 34 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 245 

So great was the consolation which St. Francis of 
Assisium felt when he learned by revelation that 
he was predestined, that he could not contain him- 
self How great shall be the joy of the elect in 
hearing the Judge say to them, *' Come, blessed 
children, come to a kingdom ; for you there are no 
more pains, no more fears ; you are, and shall be, 
saved forever. I bless the blood which I have shed 
for you, and I bless the tears which you have shed 
for your sins. Let us ascend into paradise, where 
we shall remain together for all eternity ! " Most 
holy Mary will also bless her servants, and will in- 
vite them with her to heaven. And thus, singing 
alleluias, the elect shall enter paradise in triumph, 
to possess, to praise, and to love God forever. 

But on the other hand, the reprobate, turning to 
Jesus Christ, shall say to him, *' What shall become 
of us?'^ Since, the Judge will say, you have re- 
nounced and despised my grace, ** depart from me, 
you cursed, into everlasting fire." — Matt. xxv. 41. 
Depart ; begone from me ; I wish neither to see 
nor to hear you evermore. You cursed, go, and 
since you have despised my blessing, go accursed. 
And where, O Lord, shall they go ? Into fire, into 
hsil, (o burn both in soul and body. And for how 
many years, or for how many ages ? Into cverlast^ 
ingfire; for all eternity; as long as» God shall be 
God. After this sentence, says St. Ephrem, the 
reprobate shall take leave of the angels, of the 
saints, of relatives, and of the divine mother. " Fare- 
well, ye just! farewell, O cross! farewell, O para- 
dise ! farewell, fathers and children, for we shall 
never see any of you again! farewell, O Mary, 
mother of God ! '' — S. Ephr. de Variis, torm., inf. 
Then, in the middle of that valley, a pit shall be 
opened, into which the devils and the damned shaH 
21* 



246 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

fall. O God ! they shall see those gates closed, 
never to be opened, never, never for all eternity. 

accursed sin, to vi^hat a melanchojy end shall 
you one day lead so many poor souls ! O unhappy 
souls, whom this unhappy lot awaits! 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah, my Savior and my God ! what sentence shall 

1 receive on that day ? If, O ray Jesus, thou didst 
now demand ap account of my life, what could I 
say to thee but that I deserved a thousand hells? 
Yes, it is true, O my divine Redeemer, I deserve a 
thousand hells ; but remember that I love thee, and 
that I love thee more than myself; and for the in- 
sults I have committed against thee I feel so great 
a sorrow, that I would be content to have suffered 
every evil rather than have offended thee. Thou, 
O my Jesus, condemnest obstinate sinners, but not 
those who repent and wish to love thee. Behold 
me penitent at thy feet ; make me feel that thou 
pardonest me. But this thou hast declared by the 
mouth of thy prophet: ** Turn ye to me, saith 
the Lord of Hosts, and I will turn to you." — Zac. 
i. 3. I give up all things; I renounce all the pleas- 
lares and goods of this world ; I turn to thee, and 
embrace thee, O my beloved Redeemer. Ah, re- 
ceive me into thy heart, and there inflame me with 
*hy holy love ; but inflame me in such a manner 
that I shall never again think of separating from 
^hee. O my Jesus, save me, and let my salva- 
tion consist in loving thee always, and in singing 
fhy mercies forever. ** The mercies of the Lord I 
will sing forever." Mary, my hope, my refuge, and 
wy mother, assist me, and obtain for me holy per- 
«everance. No one has been lost who has had re- 
course to thee. To thee I recommend myself; 
have pity on me. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 247 



TWENTY-SIXTH CONSIDERATION. 



ON THE PAINS OF HELL. 

"And these shall go into everlasting punishment." — 
Matt. XXV. 46. 



FIRST POINT. 

In committing sin, the sinner does two evils. He 
abandons God, the Sovereign Good, and turns to 
creatures, ** For my people have done two evils. 
They have forsaken me, the fountain of living 
water, and have digged to themselves cisterns — 
broken cisterns — that can hold no water.'' — Jer. 
ii. 13. Since, then, by turning to creatures the 
sinner offends God, he shall be justly tortured in 
hell by the same creatures, by fire, and by devils : 
in this punishment consists the pain of sense. But 
because his greatest guilt and the malice of his sin 
consist in turning his back on God, his principal 
torment, his hell, shall be the pain of loss, or the 
pain arising from having lost God. 

Let us first consider the pain of sense. It is of 
faith, that there is a hell. In the middle of the 
earth there is a prison reserved for the chastisement 
of rebels against God. What is this hell ? It is 
what the glutton, who was damned, called it — a 
** place of torments." — Luke xvi. 28. A place of 
torments, where all the senses and powers of the 
damned shall have their proper torment, and where, 
the more a person shall have offended God by any 
sense, the more he shall be tortured in that sense 
" By what things a man sinneth, by the same also 
he is tormented." — Wis. xi. 17. "As much as 



248 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. ^ 

she hath glorified herself and lived in delicacies, so 
much torments and sorrow give ye to her.'' — Apoc. 
xviii. 7. The sight shall be tormented with dark- 
ness. "A land," says Job, ** that is dark, and 
covered with the mist of death." — Job x. 21. How 
pitiable the condition of a man who is shut up in a 
dark cave for forty or fifty years, or during his 
whole life ! Hell is a dungeon closed up on every 
side, into which a ray of the sun, or of any other 
light, shall never enter. ** He shall never see the 
light." — Ps. xlviii. 20. The fire of this world 
sends forth light ; but the fire of hell is utterly dark. 
*'The voice of the Lord divided the fire."' — Ps. 
xxviii. 7. In explaining these words, St. Basil says, 
that the Lord shall separate the light from the fire, 
so that this fire shall burn, but shall not illuminate. 
Albertus Magnus expounds them more briefly, and 
says that God *' will divide the flame from the heat." 
The very smoke that shall issue from that fire shall 
form a storm of darkness which, according to St. 
Jude, shall blind the damned. *' To whom the 
storm of darkness is reserved forever." — St. Jude 
13. St. Thomas teaches, that the damned have 
only the light which serves to increase their tor- 
ments. " Quantum sufficit ad videndum ea quse 
torquere possunt." — 3 part. qu. 97, art. 5. In that 
glimmering light they shall see the deformity of 
their associates, and of the devils, who shall assume 
horrible forms in order to increase the terrors of the 
darpned. 

The smell also shall be tormented. How painful 
to be confined in a close room along with a putrid 
corpse ! *' Out of their carcasses," says the prophet 
Isaias, *' shall rise a stink." — Is. xxxiv. 3. The 
damned Christian must remain in the midst of so 
many millions of the reprobate, who, though for- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 249 

ever alive to pain, are called carcasses on account 
of the stench which they send forth. St. Bonaven- 
ture says, that if the body of one of the damned 
were placed on this earth, it would, by its stench, 
be sufficient to cause the death of all men. Mis- 
erable fools! the greater the number of the damned 
in hell, the more insufferable shall be their torments. 
" There," says St. Thomas, *' the society of the 
reprobate shall cause, not a diminution, but an in- 
crease of misery.'' — Suppl. qu. 86, art. 1. Their 
sufferings are more intolerable on account of the 
stench, on account of the shrieks of the damned, 
and on account of the narrowness of the place. In 
hell they shall be one over the other, like sheep 
gathered together in the winter. '* They are," said 
David, " laid in hell like sheep." — Ps. xlviii. 15. 
They shall be even like grapes pressed under the 
wine-press of God's wrath. ''And he treadeth the 
wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of God 
the Almighty." — Apoc. xix. 15. From this shall 
arise the pain of immobility. *' Let them become 
immovable as a stone." — Exod. xv. 16. Thus, in 
whatsoever position the damned shall fall into hell 
after the last day, in that they must remain, without 
ever changing their posture, and without being ever 
able to move hand or foot, as long as God shall be 
God. 

The hearing shall be tormented by the unceasing 
howling and wailing of those miserable beings, 
who are sunk in an abyss of despair. The devils 
shall torment the damned by continual noises. *' The 
jsound of dread is always in his ears." — Job xv. 
21. How painful to a person longing for sleep to 
hear the groans of a sick man, the barking of a 
dog, or the screams of an infant ! But, O, how 
miserable the condition of the damned, who must 



250 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

listen incessantly for all eternity to the clamor and 
€ries of the companions of their torments ! The 
damned shall be tormented by a ravenous hunger. 
'' They shall suffer hunger like dogs." — Ps. Iviii. 
15. But they never shall have a morsel of bread. 
Their thirst shall be so great that all the waters of 
the ocean should not be able to quench it ; but they 
shall never be allowed a single drop. The rich 
glutton asked for a drop of water ; but he has not 
yet got it, and he never, never shall have it. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah ! my Lord, behold at thy feet one who has so 
much despised thy grace and thy chastisements I 
Miserable should I be, O my Jesus, if thou hadst 
not taken pity on me. How many years should I 
be in that fetid furnace, in which so many of mj 
companions are now burning ! Ah ! my Redeemer, 
why does not this thought make me burn with thy 
love ? How can I ever again think of offending 
thee ? Ah ! my Jesus, may I never more displease 
thee. Strike me dead a thousand times rather than 
permit me ever again to insult thee. Since thou 
hast begun, complete the work. Thou hast taken 
me out of the abyss of so many sins, and hast so 
lovingly called me to love thee. Ah ! grant that 1 
may spend for thee all the time which thou now 
givest me. How ardently should the damned desire 
a day or an hour of the time granted to me ! And 
shall I continue to spend it in offending thee? No/ 
my Jesus; through the merits of that blood, which 
has hitherto delivered me from hell, do not permit 
it. I love thee, O Sovereign Good, and because I 
love thee, 1 am sorry for having offended thee. I 
wish never more to offend thee, but to love thee 
forever. Mary, my queen and my mother, pray to 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 261 

Jesus for me, and obtain for me the gift of perse- 
verance and of his holy love. 

SECOND POINT. 

The pain which most severely torments the senses 
of the damned arises from the fire of hell, which 
tortures the sense of touch. *' The vengeance on 
the flesh of the ungodly is fire and worms.'' — Eccl. 
vii. 19. Hence, in passing sentence, the Lord 
makes special mention of it. ** Depart from me, 
you cursed, into everlasting fire." — Matt. xxv. 41. 
Even in this life, the pain of fire is the greatest of 
all torments ; but according to St. Augustine, our 
fire, compared with the fire of hell, is but painted 
fire. **In cujus comparatione noster hie ignis 
depictus est." St. Vincent Ferrer says that, in 
comparison with the fire of hell, our fire is cold. 
The reason is, that the fire of this earth has been 
created for our use ; but God has made the fire of 
hell purposely to torment the damned. ** Longe 
alius," says Tertullian, *' est ignis qui usuihumano, 
alius qui Dei justitiae deservit." The wrath of God 
lights up this avenging fire. ^' A fire is kindled in 
my rage."- — Jer. xv. 14. Hence the prophet 
Isaias calls the fire of hell the spirit of heat. ** If 
the Lord shall wash away the filth of the daughters 
of Sion .... by the spirit of burning." — Isa. iv. 
4. The damned shall be sent, not to the fire, but 
into fire. *' Depart from me, you cursed, into ever- 
lasting fire." Thus, like a piece of wood in a fur- 
nace, they shall be surrounded by fire. ' They shall 
have an abyss of fire below, an abyss of fire above, 
and an abyss of fire on every side. If they touch, 
or see, or breathe, they touch, and see, and breathe 
nothing but fire. They shall live in fire, like a fish 



252 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

in water. But this fire shall not only surround the 
damned, but shall also enter into their very bowels, 
to torment them. Their bodies shall become all 
fire. Thus this fire shall burn the bowels, the 
heart, the brain, the blood within the veins, and 
even the marrow within the bones. Each of the 
damned shall be in himself a furnace of fire. *' Thou 
shalt make them as a furnace of fire." — Ps. 
XX. 10. 

Some cannot bear to walk under a strong sun, or 
to remain in a close room before a large fire ; they 
cannot endure a spark that flies from a candle ; and 
still they fear not the devouring flames of hell. 
" Which of you," says the prophet Isaias, *' can 
dwell with devouring fire ? " — Isa. xxxiii. 14. As a 
wild beast devours a lamb, so the fire of hell devours 
the damned ; but it devours them without ever caus- 
ing death. " Fools," says St. Peter Damian, address- 
ing the unchaste, ** continue, continue to indulge 
your flesh ; a day shall come when your impurities, 
like pitch, shall nourish and increase within your 
bowels the flame which shall torment you in hell." 
" Venit dies imo nox, quando libido tua vertetur in 
picem, qua se nutriet perpetuus ignis in tuis viscer- 
ibus." — Epist. vi. St. Jerome says that this fire 
shall bring with it all the pains and torments to 
which men are subject on this earth — pains in the 
sides, in the head, in the bowels, in the nerves. " In 
uno igne omnia supplicia sentiunt in inferno pec- 
catores." — Epist. ad Pam. In this fire the damned 
shall suffer even the pain of cold. *' Let him," 
says Job, *'pass from the snow waters to excessive 
heat." — Job xxiv. 19. But we must always keep 
in mind, that all the torments of this earth are, as 
St. Chrysostom says, but the shadow of the pains of 
hell. "Pone ignem, pone ferrum, quid nisi umbra 
ad ilia tormenta." 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 253 

The powers of the soul also shall have their 
proper torment. The damned shall be tormented 
in the memory by the remembrance of the time 
which v/as given to them, in this life, that they 
might save their souls, and which they spent in 
procuring their own damnation; by the remem- 
brance of the graces which they have received 
from God, and of which they have not profited. 
They shall be tormented in the understanding by 
thinking of the great good which they have lost 
in losing heaven and God, and that this loss is for- 
ever irreparable; in the will, by seeing that they 
shall be refused whatsoever they ask. *' The desire 
of the wicked shall perish." — Ps. cxi. 10. The 
miserable beings shall never have any thing which 
they desire, and shall be forever afflicted with the 
eternal torments which they abhor. They would 
wish to be rid of these torments, and to enjoy 
peace ; but in these torqients they shall forever re- 
main, and peace they shall never find. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah, my Jesus, thy blood and thy death are my 
hope. Thou hast died to deliver me from eternal 
death. Ah, Lord, who has partaken more of thy 
merits than I, who have so often deserved hell ? 
Ah! do not allow me to live any longer ungrateful 
to the great graces thou hast bestowed upon me.- 
Thou hast delivered me from the fire of hell, 
because thou dost wish me to burn, not in that 
tormenting fire, but with the sweet flames of thy 
love. Assist me, then, that I may satisfy thy de- 
sire. Were I now in hell, I could never more 
love thee. But since I am able to love thee, I 
wish to love thee. I love thee, O infinite Good- 
ness. I love thee, O my Redeemer, who hast 
22 



254 PREPARATION FOR 1>EATH. 

loved me so tenderly. How have I been able lo 
live so long in forgetfulness of thee ? I thank 
thee for not having been forgetful of me. Hadst 
thou forgotten me, I should now either be in hell, 
or without sorrow for my sins. This sorrow, which 
I feel in my heart for having offended thee, and my 
desire to love thee ardently, are gifts of thy grace, 
which still assist me. I thank thee for them, O 
my Jesus. I hope for the future to give thee the 
remainder of my life. I wish to think only of serv- 
ing and pleasing thee. Remind me always of the 
hell I have deserved, and of the graces thou hast 
bestowed upon me, and do not permit me ever 
again to turn my back upon thee, and to condemn 
myself to that pit of torments. O mother of God. 
pray for me, a sinner. Thy intercession has deliv- 
ered me from hell. Deliver me also, O my mother, 
by thy prayers, from sin, which alone can again 
condemn me to hell. 

THIRD POINT. 

But all these torments are nothing, compared 
with the pain of loss. Hell does not consist in 
the darkness, stench, shrieks, and fire ; the pain 
which constitutes hell is the pain of having lost 
God. **Let torments,'* says St. Bruno, *' be added 
to torments, and let them not be deprived of God.'' 
— Serm.de Jud. Fin. And St. John Chrysostom 
says that a thousand hells are not equal to this 
pain. **Si mille dixeris gehennas, nihil par dices 
illius doloris.'* — Hom. xlix. ad Pop. According 
to St. Augustine, if the damned enjoy the vision of 
God, they should feel no pain, and hell should be 
converted into a paradise." — Tom. ix. de trip, 
hab. To conceive some notion of this pain. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 255 

consider that, should a person lose a jewel worth a 
hundred crowns, the loss would occasion great 
pain; but, were the jewel worth two hundred 
crowns, his pain is doubled ; and, if it were worth 
four hundred crowns, the pain is still greater. In 
a word, the pain which he suffers is in proportion 
to the value of what he has lost. What has a 
damned soul lost? She has lost God, who is an 
infinite good. Hence St. Thomas says, that her 
pain is, in a certain manner, infinite. ** Pcena 
damnati est infinita, quia est amissio boni infiniti.'* 
— 1,2, qu. 87, art. 4. 

This pain is dreaded only by the saints. *' HaBC 
amantibus," says St. Augustine, '•' non contemnen- 
tibus poena est.^' St. Ignatius of Loyola used to 
say, ** Lord, I am willing to bear every pain, 
but not the pain of being deprived of thee.'' But, 
because they live in the midst of darkness, sinners 
who are content to live for months and years with- 
out God, do not understand this pain. However, 
they shall know at death the great good which they 
lose. At her departure from this world, the soul, 
as St. Antonine ^ays, instantly sees that she has 
been created for God. ** Separata autera anima a 
corpore intelligit Deum summum bonum, et adiilud 
esse creatam." Hence she shall suddenly rush 
forward to embrace her Sovereign Good ; but, if 
she be in sin, God shall cast her off. If a dog see 
a hare, what efforts does he not make to break his 
chains and seize his prey ! At her separation from 
the body, the soul is naturally drawn to God ; but 
sin drags her away, and sends her to hell, at a 
distance from him. " Your iniquities," says the 
prophet Isaias, " have divided between you and 
your God." — Isa. lix. 2. The entire, then, of the 
hell of the damned consists in that first word of the 



256 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

sentence of their condemnation, — ^^ Depart from 
me, you cursedJ* Go, Jesus Christ shall say : I do 
not wish you ever again to see my face. *' Si uiille 
quis ponat gehennas," says Chrysostom, " nihil tale 
dicturus est, quale est exosum Christo." — Chrys. 
Hom. xxiv. in Matt. When Absalom heard that 
David condemned him never more to appear before 
him, he said, ''Tell my father either to permit me 
to see his face, or to put me to death." — 2 Kings 
xiv. 24. To one of his grandees, whom he saw 
guilty of irreverence in the church, Philip the Sec- 
ond said, *' Do not dare ever again to appear in my 
presence.'' So great was the pain which the no- 
bleman felt, that, after having returned home, he 
died of grief What shall be the anguish of the 
reprobate at the hour of death, when God shall say 
to him,*' Begone; I will never see you again !'' "I 
will hide my face from them:. ... all evils and 
afflictions shall find them." — Deut. xxxi. 17. On 
the day of judgment Jesus Christ shall say to the 
reprobate, " You are no longer mine ; I am no long- 
er yours." " Call his name not, my people; for 
you are not my people, and I will not be yours." 
Osee i. 9. 

With what pain does a son at the death of a 
father, or a spouse at the death of her husband, 
say, " My father, my spouse, I shall never see you 
again " ! Ah ! if we now heard the wailing of one 
of the damned, and asked him why he weeps so 
bitterly, his answer should be, "I weep because I 
have lost God, and shall never see him more." Per- 
haps the miserable man can love God in hell, and 
can resign himself to his will ? No ; if he could 
do this, hell should not be hell. The unhappy 
being can never resign himself to the divine will. 
Neither can he love his God : he hates and shall 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 257 

hate him forever ; and his hell shall consist in the 
conviction that God is an infinite good, and that he 
is compelled to hate him, while he sees that he is 
worthy of infinite love. When St. Catharine asked 
a devil vi^ho he was, he said, '' I am that wicked 
wretch that is deprived of the love of God.'' The 
damned shall hate and curse God ; and in cursing 
God, they shall also curse the benefits he has con- 
ferred upon them ; they shall curse the benefits 
of creation, of redemption, of the sacraments, partic- 
ularly the sacraments of baptism and penance, and, 
above all, the most holy sacrament of the altar. 
They shall hate all the angels and saints, but es- 
pecially their angel-guardians and their holy advo- 
cates, and, above all, the divine mother. But they 
shall principally hate the Three Divine Persons, 
and among them they shall hate in a special man- 
ner the Son of God, who once died for their salva- 
tion ; they shall curse his wounds, his blood, his 
pains, and his death. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, ray God, thou then art my supreme and in- 
finite Good ; and I have so often voluntarily lost 
thee. I knew that in committing sin I gave thee 
great displeasure, and that I lost thy grace ; and 
with this knowledge I have consented to sin ! Ah, 
if I did not see thee, O Son of God, nailed to the 
cross in order to die for me, I should not iiave 
courage to ask or hope for pardon from thee. Eter- 
nal Father, look not on me, but behold thy beloved 
Son, who asks mercy for me ; hear him, and par- 
don me. I ought at this moment to be in hell, 
without any hope of being evermore able to love 
thee, or to recover thy lost grace. My God, I am 
sorry above all things for the injury I have done 
22* 



258 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

thee in renouncing thy friendship, and despising 
thy love for the miserable pleasures of this world 

that I had died a thousand times, rather than 
have offered thee so great an insult ! How could 

1 have been so blind and foolish? I thank thee, 

my Lord, for giving me time to repair the evil I 
have done. Since, through thy mercy, I am not in 
hell, and can love thee, O my God, I wish to love 
thee. I will wait no longer to convert myself en- 
tirely to thee. I love thee, O infinite Goodness. I 
love thee, my life, my treasure, my love, my all. 
Remind me always, O Lord, of the love which thou 
hast borne to me, and of the hell which I have de- 
served, that this thought may continually excite me 
to make acts of love, and to say always, I love tJieCy 

1 love thee, I love thee. O Mary, my queen, my 
hope, and my mother, if I were in hell, I could 
never more love thee. I love thee, O my mother, 
and in thee, after Jesus, I trust that I shall never 
again cease to love my God and thee. Assist me \ 
pray to Jesus for me. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH CONSIDERATION. 



ON THE ETERNITY OF HELL. 

"And these shall go into everlasting punishment.** — Matt. 
XXV. 46. 



FIRST POINT. 

Were hell not eternal, it should not be hell. 
Torments which continue but a short time, are 
not a severe punishment. The man who is af^ 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 259 

flicted with an imposthume or cancer, submits to 
the knife or the cautery. The pain is very sharp ; 
but, because it is soon over, the torture is not very 
great. But, should the incision or cauterization 
last for a week, or for an entire month, how fright- 
ful should be his agony ! A slight pain in the eye, 
or in the teeth, when it lasts for a long time, be- 
comes insupportable. Even a comedy, a musical 
entertainment, should it continue for an entire day, 
produces intolerable tediousness. And should it 
last for a month, or for a year, who could bear it ? 
What then must hell be, where the damned are 
compelled, not to listen to the same comedy or the 
same music, nor to submit merely to pains in the 
eyes or in the teeth, or to the torture of the knife, 
or of the red-hot iron, but to suffer all pains and all 
torments? And for how long? For all eternity, 
**They shall be tortured forever and ever.'' — 
Apoc. XX. 10. 

This eternity is of faith ; it is not an opinion, 
but a truth attested by God in so many places in the 
Holy Scriptures. ^^ Depart from me, you accursed, 
into everlasting fire." — Matt. xxv. 41. '* And 
these shall go into everlasting punishment." — ver. 
46. " Who shall suffer eternal punishment in de- 
struction." — 2 Thess. i. 9. '' Every one shall be 
salted with fire." — Mark ix. 48. As salt prevents 
putrefaction, so the fire of hell, while it tortures the 
damned, performs the office of salt by preserving 
their life. " Ignis ibi consumit," says St. Bernard, 
" ut semper servet." — Medit., c. iii. 

Now, how great should be the folly of the man 
who, for the sake of a day's amusement, would vol- 
untarily condemn himself to be shut up in a dun- 
geon for twenty or thirty years ! If hell lasted but 
a hundred, or even but two or three years, it would 



260 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

be the extreme of folly in a Christian to condemn 
himself to fire for two or three years for the vile 
pleasure of a moment. But there is not a question 
of thirty, of a hundred, of a thousand, or of a hun- 
dred thousand years ; but there is question of eter- 
nity ; there is question of suffering forever the same 
torments— rtorments which shall never end, and shall 
never be mitigated in the slightest degree. The 
saints, then, had reason, as long as they were on 
this earth, and in danger of being lost, to weep and 
tremble. Blessed Isaias, even while he lived in the 
desert in fasting and penitential rigors, wept, and 
said, ^' Ah, unhappy me, who am not as yet free 
from the danger of losing my soul.'* 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my God, if thou hadst sent me to hell, as I 
have often deserved, and hadst afterwards drawn me 
from it, how deeply should I feel my obligations to 
thee ! What a holy life would I have commenced ! 
And now that thou hast shown me greater mercy 
by preserving me from falling into that place of 
woe, what shall I do? Will I again offend thee 
and provoke thy wrath, that thou mayst send me 
to burn in that prison of rebels against thy majesty, 
where so many are buried in fire for fewer sins than 
I have committed? ^ Ah, my Redeemer! I have 
hitherto done so; and instead of availing myself of 
the time which thou gavest me to weep over my 
sins, I have spent it in provoking thee still more, i 
I thank thy infinite goodness for having borne with 
me so long. If thy goodness were not infinite, how 
couldst thou have borne with me? I thank thee 
for having waited for me till now with so much pa- 
tience. I thank thee in a most special manner for 
the light which thou now givest me, by which thou 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 261 

makest me see my folly, and the injury I have done 
thee in insulting thee so often by my sins. My 
Jesus, I detest them, and am sorry for them with 
my whole heart. Through the merits of thy pas- 
sion, p irdon me, and assist me with thy grace, that 
I may never more offend thee. I now have just 
reason to fear that, if I commit another mortal sin, 
thou Vv'ilt abandon me. My Lord, I entreat thee to 
place this just fear before my eyes whenever the 
devij shijl tempt me to offend thee again. My 
God, I love thee; I do not wish evermore to lose 
thee ; assist me by thy grace. O most holy Virgin, 
do thou also assist me. Obtain for me the grace 
always to have recourse to thee in my temptations, 
that I may never again lose my God. Mary, after 
Jesus, thou art my hope. 

SECOND POINT. 

He that enters hell shall not depart from it for 
all eternity. This thought made David tremble 
and say, *' Let not the deep swallow me up, and let 
not the pit shut her mouth upon me." — Ps. Ixviii. 
16. As soon as the damned fall into that pit of 
torments, its mouth is closed never to be opened. 
In hell there is a gate for admission, but none for 
egress. " There will be a descent," says Eusebius, 
'* but there shall be no ascent." In explaining the 
words of the Psalmist, this author says, '^ And let 
not the pit shut her mouth ; " because, when it shall 
have received them, it will be closed above and 
opened downwards. As long as the sinner remains 
on this earth, he may hope to reverse the sentence 
of his damnation ; but as soon as death shall over- 
take him in sin, all his hopes are at an end forever. 
** When the wicked man is dead, there shall be 



262 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

no hope any more/' — Prov. xi. 7. Perhaps the 
damned may flatter themselves with a false hope, and 
thus find some relief in their despair. The man 
who is mortally wounded, confined to his bed, and 
given over by his physicians, may console himself 
with the hope of finding a physician or a remedy 
to heal his wounds. The man who is condemned 
to the galleys for life, may also find comfort in the 
expectation of being one day delivered from his 
chains. And may not the damned at least say, 
*' Who knows but I shall one day escape from this 
prison ? " and thus delude himself with this false hope? 
No ; in hell there is no hope, whether true or false ; 
there is no perhaps. I will set before thy face, — 
Ps. xlix. 21. The unhappy damned shall always 
see the sentence of their reprobation written before 
their eyes. In it they shall read, that they shall weep 
forever in that pit of torments. ^' And many shall 
awake ; some unto life everlasting, and others unto 
reproach, to see it always." — Dan. xii. 2. Hence 
the damned not only suffer the torments of each 
moment, but in each moment they endure the pain 
of eternity, saying, ** What I now suffer I must 
suffer forever.'' *' They bear," says Tertullian, 
** the weight of eternity." *' Pondus seternitatis 
gustinent." 

Let us, then, pray to the Lord in the words of 
St. Augustine, '' Here burn, here cut, here spare 
not, that you may spare for eternity." The chas- 
tisements of this life pass away ; ** thy arrows 
pass ; " but the pains of the next life last forever ; 
*' the voice of thy thunder in a wheel." — Ps. Ixxvi. 
18. Let us dread these punishments. Let us 
dread that thunder of eternal damnation which shall 
issue from the mouth of the Judge in passing sen- 
tence against the wicked. ** Depart from me, you 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 263 

cursed, into everlasting fire." The Psalmist says, 
** The voice of thy thunder in a wheel." A wheel 
is a figure of eternity, which has no end. ** I have 
drawn my sword out of its sheath, not to be turned 
back." — Ez. xxi. 5. The punishment of hell shall 
be great ; but what ought to terrify us more is, that 
it shall be irrevocable. 

But the unbeliever will say, ** Can it be just to 
punish a sin which lasts but a moment with eternal 
torments ? " But how, I ask, can a sinner, for a 
momentary pleasure, dare to insult a God of infinite 
majesty? St. Thomas says (1,2, qu. 87, art. 3) 
that, even in human judgments, the punishment of 
crime is measured, not from its duration, but from 
its malice. *' Non quia homicidium in momento 
committitur, momentanea poena punitur." Hell is 
but a small punishment for mortal sin ; an offence 
against infinite majesty deserves infinite chastise- 
ment. "In every mortal sin," says St. Bernardine 
of Sienna, ** an infinite insult is offered to God; 
but an infinite injury merits infinite punishment." 
*' But, because," says St. Thomas, " a creature is not 
capable of suffering pain infinite in point of inten- 
sity, God inflicts punishment infinite in extension 
or duration." 

Besides, since the damned are incapable of mak- 
ing satisfaction for their sins, their punishment 
should be necessarily eternal. In this life, penitent 
sinners can atone for their iniquities only inas- 
much as the merits of Jesus Christ are applied to 
them. But from the application of these merits 
the reprobate are excluded. Hence, since they can 
never appease the anger of God, and since their sin 
is eternal, their punishment also must be eternal. 

" He shall not give to God his ransom And 

lie shall labor forever." — Ps* xlviii. 8, 9. Hence 



264 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Belluacensis says, (lib. ii. page 3,) ''There sin can 
be forever punished, and can never be expiated;" 
for, according to St. Antonine, ** There the sinner 
cannot repent." Therefore the wrath of the Lord 
shall be always provoked against him. " The peo- 
ple with whom the Lord is angry forever." — Mai. 
i. 4. Moreover, the damned, though God should 
wish to pardon them, are unwilling to be pardoned; 
for their will is obstinate and confirmed in hatred 
against God. ** Non humiliabuntur reprobi," says 
Innocent the Third, *' sed malignitas odii in illis ex- 
crescet." — Lib. iii. de Con. Mundi, cap. x. And 
St. Jerome says, that the reprobate " are insatiable 
in the desire of sinning." — In Prov. xxvii. Hence, 
because the damned refuse to be healed, their 
wounds are incurable. " Why is my wound des- 
perate, so as to refuse to be healed?" — Jer. xv. 18. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Then, my Redeemer, if at this hour I were damn- 
ed, as I have deserved, I should be obstinate in 
hatred against thee, my God, who hast died for me. 

God ! what a hell should it be to hate thee, who 
hast loved me so tenderly, who art infinite beauty, 
infinite goodness, and worthy of infinite love ! 
Then, if I were now in hell, I should be in such an 
unhappy state, that I would not even wish for the 
pardon which thou now offerest to me. My Jesus, 

1 thank thee for the mercy thou hast shown me ; 
and since I now can obtain pardon, I wish to love 
thee. Thou offerest me pardon, and I ask it from 
thee, and hope for it through thy merits. I am sorry 
for all the offences I have committed against thee, 
O infinite Goodness. Pardon me, then. I love thee 
with my whole soul. Ah, Lord ! what evil hast 
thou done me, that I should have to hate thee for- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 265 

ever as my enemy ? And what friend have I ever 
had who has done and suffered so much for nie, as 
thou, O my Jesus, hast done and suffered for me? 
Ah ! do not permit me ever more to fall into enmity 
with thee, and to lose thy love. Take me out of 
life, sooner than permit this sovereign evil to befall 
me. O Mary, take me under thy protection, and 
do not permit me ever more to rebel against God 
and against thee. 

THIRD POINT. 

In this life death is greatly feared by sinners; 
but in hell it shall be most ardently desired. ^' Men 
shall seek death, and shall not find it ; and they shall 
desire to die, and death shall fly from them." — 
Apoc. ix. C. Hence St. Jerome has written, ** O 
death, how sweet should you be to those to whom 
you have been so full of bitterness!'' — Ap. S. Bon. 
Solil. David says that death shall feast on the 
damned. ** Death shall feed upon them." — Ps. 
xlviii. 15. In explaining this passage, St. Bernar- 
dine observes, that as, in feeding, sheep eat the 
blades of grass, and leave the roots untouched, so 
death feeds on the damned ; it kills them every mo- 
ment, but leaves them life in order to continue to 
kill them by pains for all eternity. *' Sicut anima- 
lia depasGunt herbas, sed remanent radices, sic 
miser i in inferno corrodentur a morte, sed iterum 
reservabuntur ad poenas." Thus, according to St. 
Gregory, the damned die every moment without 
ever dying. Delivered up to avenging (lames, 
they shall die always. **Flammis ultricibus tradi- 
tus semper morietur." — Lib. i. Mor. cap. xii. A 
roan who dies through pain is an object of pity to 
all who behold him. Perhaps the damned, too, expe- 
23 



266 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

rience commiseration from others? No; they die 
every moment, and have not, and never shall have, 
anyone to take compassion on them. The emperor 
Zeno, being one day shut up in a pit, continually 
cried out, ** For pity^s sake, open this grave, and 
release meP But no one heard him, and he was 
found dead, after having eaten the flesh off his arms. 
The damned cry out from the pit of hell, says St. 
Cyril of Alexandria ; but no one comes to deliver 
them, no one feels compassion for them. ** Lam- 
entantur et nullus eripit : plangunt et nemo cora- 
patitur/' 

And for how long shall this their misery last? 
Forever, forever. In the spiritual exercises of 
Father Paul Segneri, written by Muratori, it is re- 
lated that, in Rome, a devil in the body of a man 
possessed, being asked how long he should remain 
in hell, began to beat his hand against a chair, and 
answered in a rage, ^^ Forever, forever.^^ At hear- 
ing this great sermon of two v^ords, forever, forever, 
many students of the Roman seminary, who were 
present, made a general confession, and changed 
their lives. Poor Judas ! he has spent more than 
eighteen hundred years in hell, and his hell is still 
at its commencement. Poor Cain ! he is in fire for 
more than five thousand eight hundred years, and 
his hell is at its beginning. Another devil was 
asked how long it was since he had been sent to 
hell. He answered, *' Yesterday." ** How,'* said 
the person who asked him, ** could it be yesterday, 
when you are damned for more than five thousand 
years?/' He replied, ** O, if you knew what is 
meant by eternity, you should easily conceive how 
a thousand years, compared with it, are but a mo- 
ment. If an angel said to one of the damned, * YoQ 
shall leave hell, but only after the lapse of as many 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 267 

ages as there are drops of water in the ocean, leaves 
on the trees, or grains of sand in the sea,' he should 
feel greater joy than a beggar would at hearing of 
his elevation to a throne. Yes ; all these ages shall 
pass away, they shall be multiplied an infinite num- 
ber of times, and hell shall be at its commencement. 
Each of the damned would make this compact with 
God : Lord, increase my pain as much as you wish ; 
let it last as long as you please ; but put an end to 
it, and I am content. But this end shall never take 
place. In hell, the trumpet of divine justice shall 
sound nothing else but these words, Forever , forever ; 
never, never. ^^ 

The damned shall ask the devils what is the 
hour of the night. " Watchmen, what of the 
night?" — Isa. xxi. 11. When shall it end? 
When shall these trumpets, these shrieks, this 
stench, these flames, these torments cease ? Their 
answer is. Never, never. And how long shall they 
last? Forever, forever. Ah, Lord, give light to so 
many blind Christians, who, when entreated not to 
damn themselves, say, **If I go to hell, I must have 
patience." O God ! they have not patience to bear 
the least cold, to remain in an overheated room, or 
to submit to a buffet on the cheek. And hovy can 
they have patience to remain in a sea of fire, tram- 
pled by the devils, and abandoned by God, and by 
all, for all eternity ? 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, Father of mercies, thou dost not abandon 
him who seeks thee. " Thou hast not forsaken 
them that seek thee, O Lord." — Ps. ix. 11. I 
have hitherto turned my back upon thee so often, 
and thou hast not abandoned me ; do not abandon 



268 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

me now that I seek thee. I repent, O Sovereign 
Good, of having made so little account of thy 
grace, which I have exchanged for nothing. Look 
at the wounds of thy Son ; listen to his cries, which 
implore thee to pardon me : and grant me pardon. 

my Redeemer, remind me always of the pains 
thou hast suffered for me, of the love thou hast 
borne me, and of my ingratitude, by which I have 
so often deserved hell, that I may always bewail 
the injury I have done thee, and that I may live 
always burning with thy love. Ah, my Jesus, 
how can I but burn with thy love, when I reflect 
that for so many years I ought to burn in hell, and 
continue to burn in it for all eternity; when I 
remember that thou hast died in order to deliver 
me from it, and that thou hast with so much mercy 
rescued me from that land of misery ? Were I in 
hell, I should now hate thee there, and should have 
to hate thee forever ; but now I love thee, and will 
love thee forever. In thy blood I hope that I now 
love thee, and that I will love thee forever. Thou 
lovest me, and I also love thee. Thou wilt love 
me forever unless I forsake thee. Ah, my Savior, 
save me from the misfortune of ever leaving thee, 
and ^ then do with me whatsoever thou pleasest. 

1 merit every punishment, and I accept every chas- 
tisement, that thou mayst deliver me from the pun- 
ishment of being deprived of thy love. O Mary, 
my refuge, how often have I condemned myself to 
hell, and thou hast preserved me from it ! Ah, 
deliver me now from sin, which alone can deprive 
me of the grace of God, and bring me to hell. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 269 



TWENTY-EIGHTH CONSIDERATION. 

REMORSES OF THE DAJMNED. 

" Their worm dieth not." — Mark ix. 47. 

FIRST POINT. 

According to St. Thomas, this worm, which 
dieth not, is to be understood of remorse of con- 
science, which shall eternally torment the damned 
in hell. The remorses which shall gnaw the 
hearts of the reprobate shall be many ; but the 
most excruciating shall be, first, the thought of 
the trifles for which they are damned; secoudly, 
the thought of the little which they were required 
to do in order to save their souls; and thirdly, the 
thought of the great good which thev have lost. 
After Esau had eaten the pottage of lentils for 
which he had sold his birthright, the Scripture 
says that, through sorrow and remorse for the loss, 
he ^' roared out with a great cry." — Gen. xxvii. 34, 
O, how shall the damned howl and roar at the 
thought of having, for a few momentary, poisoned 
pleasures, lost an eternal kingdom of delights, and 
of having condemned themselves forever to a con- 
tinual death ! Hence they shall weep far more 
bitterly than Jonathan did when he saw himself 
condemned to death by his father for h;iving eaten 
a little honey. ** I did but taste a little honey, 
and, behold, I rnust die.'' — 1 Kings xiv. 43. O God ! 
what torture shall each of the damned tee\ in think- 
ing that he was the cause of his own damnition! 
At present, our past life appears to us but a dream, 
a moment. But what shall he who is in hell think 
23* 



270 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

of the fifty or sixty years which he spent on this 
earth, when he shall be in the abyss of eternity, 
and, after the lapse of a hundred and a thousand 
millions of years, shall see that his hell only com- 
mences? But were these fifty or sixty years all 
years of pleasure? Perhaps a sinner living without 
God always feels happy in his sins. How long do 
the pleasures of sin last? Only for a few moments. 
All the remaining hours of the man who lives in 
enmity with God, are full of pains and bitterness. 
But what shall these moments of pleasure appear 
to the unhappy damned? How shall he view that 
last sin in particular, by which he brought himself 
to perdition? Then he shall say, ** For a miser- 
able, brutal pleasure, which lasted but a moment, 
and which was scarcely indulged when it vanished 
like air, I must burn in this fire, in despair and aban- 
doned by ail, as long as God shall be God — for all 
eternity. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Lord, enlighten me, that I may feel the injustice 
which I have done thee, and the eternal chastise- 
ments I have deserved, by offending thee. My 
God, I feel a great remorse for having offended 
thee ; but this pain consoles me. Hadst thou sent 
me to hell, as I deserved, the thought of the trifle 
for which I was damned should be the hell of my 
hell. But now, this remorse, I say, consoles me; 
because it encourages me to hope for pardon from 
thee, who hast promised to pardon all who repent* 
Yes, my Lord, 1 repent of having outraged thee. 
I embrace this sweet pain of remorse. I even en- 
treat thee to increase it, and to preserve it in 
my heart till death, that I may always weep bitter- 
ly over the offences I have offered to thee. My 



PKEPARATION FOR DEATH. 271 

Jesus, pardon me. O my Redeemer, who, to pro- 
cure mercy for me, hadst not mercy on thyself, but 
didst condemn thyself to die through pain in order 
to deliver me from hell, have mercy on me. Grant 
that my remorse for having offended thee may 
keep nie always sorrowful, and, at the same time, 
inflame ray whole soul with love for thee, who hast 
loved me so tenderly, who hast borne with me so 
patiently, and who now, instead of chastising me, 
dost enrich me with thy lights and graces. I thank 
thee, O my Jesus, and I love thee. 1 love thee more 
than myself 1 love thee with ray whole heart. 
Thou knowest not how to despise a soul that loves 
thee. I love thee. Do not banish me from thy face. 
Receive me, then, into thy friendship, and do not per- 
mit me evermore to lose thee. Mary, my mother, 
accept me for thy servant, and bind me to Jesus, thy 
Son. Ask him to pardon me, to give me his love 
and the grace of perseverance till death. 

SECOND POINT. 

St. Thomas says, that the principal pain of the 
reprobate shall consist in seeing that they are 
damned for nothing, and that, if they wished, they 
could with so much facility acquire for themselves 
the glory of paradise. *' Principaliter dolebunt, quod 
pro nihilo damnati sunt, et facillime vitam pote- 
rant consequi sempiternam." The second remorse 
of conscience, then, shall arise from the thought of 
the little that was necessary to be done for the 
attainment of salvation. A person who w^as 
damned, appeared to St. Aumbert, and said to him 
that the most excruciating pain which he suffered 
in hell was caused by the thought of the trifles for 
which he was lost, and of the little which he wa$ 



272 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

required to do in order to save his soul. The ura* 
happy soul shall then say, *' If I mortified myself 
by not looking at such an object; if I overcame 
human respect at such a time ; if I avoided such an 
occasion of sin, such a companion, such a conver- 
sation, — I should not now be damned. If I had 
gone to confession every week ; if I had frequented 
the congregation ; if I had read every day a spirit- 
ual book ; if I had recommended myself to Jesus 
Christ and to Mary, — I should not have relasped 
into sm. I have so often purposed to do these things, 
but have either neglected my resolutions, or, after 
having begun to practise these exercises, I gave 
them up, and therefore I am lost." 

The torture of this remorse shall be increased 
by the good examples of virtuous friends and 
companions which the reprobate has witnessed ; 
and still more by the gifts which God had given him 
for the salvation of his soul ; — gifts of nature, such 
as good health ; gifts of fortune, which were so 
many talents which the Lord had given him that 
he might make a good use of them, and become a 
saint ; gifts of grace ; so many lights, inspirations, 
calls, and so many years given to him that he might 
repair the evil which he had done. But he shall 
see that, in the miserable state to which he is re- 
duced, there is no remedy. He shall hear the an- 
gel of the Lord proclaiming and protesting that 
time shall be no more. *' And the angel whom I 
saw standing .... swore by Him that liveth for- 
ever and ever .... that time shall be no longer." — 
Apoc. X. 5, 6. O, what cruel swords shall all 
these gifts and graces be to the heart of the unhap- 
py reprobate, when he shall see that the time in 
which he could repair his eternal ruin is already 
past ! With tears and despair, he and his com- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 273 

panions shall say, " The harvest is past, the sum- 
mer is ended, and we are not saved/' — Jer. viii. 
20. He shall say, "If the fatigues to which I had 
submitted for my damnation had been borne for 
God, I should have become a great saint; and now 
what advantage do I derive from them, but pain 
and remorse, which shall torment me for eternity?'* 
Ah ! the thought that it was in his power to be for- 
ever happy, and that he must be forever miserable, 
shall torture the damned more than the fire and all 
tlie other torments of hell. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Jesus, how hast thou been able to bear 
with me ? I have so often turned my back upon 
thee, and thou hast not ceased to seek after me. I 
have so often offended thee, and thou hast pardoned 
me. Ah, impart to me a portion of that sorrow 
which thou didst feel in the Garden of Gethsemani 
for my sins, and which made thee there sweat 
blood. I am sorry, O my Redeemer, for having so 
badly repaid thy love. O accursed plsasure, I de- 
test and curse thee. Thou hast made me lose the 
grace of my Lord. My beloved Jesus, I now love 
thee above all things, and I renounce all unlawful 
gratifications, and purpose to die a thousand times, 
rather than ever more offend thee. Ah ! through 
that affection with which thou didst love me on the 
cross and didst offer for me thy divine life, give me 
light and strength to resist temptations, and to have 
recourse to thy aid whenever I shall be tempted. O 
Mary, my hope, thou art all-powerful with God ; 
obtain for me holy perseverance, obtain for me the 
grace never more to be separated from his holy 
love. 



274 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



THIRD POINT. 

The third remorse of the damned shall arise 
from seeing the great good which they have lost 
St. John Chrysostom says that the reprobate shall 
be tormented more by the loss of paradise, than by 
the pains of hell. ^' Plus coelo torquentur quam ge- 
henna." A certain princess once said, ** If God 
gives me a reign of forty years, I will renounce 
paradise.^^ The unhappy princess reigned for forty 
years; but now that her soul has departed from this 
world, what does she say? Certainly she has 
changed her sentiments. O, how great at present 
must be her affliction and despair at the thought ol 
having, for the enjoyment of an earthly reign ot 
forty years, lost for eternity the kingdom of 
heaven ! 

But the torment which shall most grievously tor- 
ture the damned for eternity, shall arise from the 
conviction that they have lost heaven and God, 
their Sovereign Good, not by any unlucky accident, 
nor by the malevolence of others, but by their own 
fault. They shall see that they have been created 
for paradise, and that God placed in their hands 
the choice of procuring for themselves eternal life 
or eternal death. ** Before man is life and death, 
.... that which he shall choose shall be given him." 
— Eccl. XV. 18. Thus they shall see that they had 
it in their power, if they wished, to be eternally 
happy, and that they have voluntarily precipitated 
themselves into that pit of torments, from which 
they can never escape, and from which no one shall 
ever deliver them. They shall see among the elect 
many of their companions, who were placed in the 
same, or perhaps in greater, danger of sinning, and 
who saved their souls because they restrained their 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 275 

passions hf recommending themselves to God, or, if 
they fell into sin, soon repented, and gave themselves 
to God. But, because they would not give up sin, 
they have in the end unhappily gone to hell — they 
have fallen into that sea of torments without any 
hope of remedy for all eternity. 

Brother, if you too have been so foolish as, by 
your own free acts, to lose paradise and God for a 
miserable pleasure, endeavor as soon as possible to 
apply a remedy now that you have time. Do not 
voluntarily continue in your foolishness. Tremble 
lest you should have to weep over your folly for all 
eternity. Who knows but this consideration which 
you now read, is the last call which God will give 
you ? Perhaps, if you do not now change your life, 
if you commit another mortal sin, the Lord will 
abandon you, and, in punishment of that sin, 
send you to suffer forever among that crowd of 
fools who are now in hell, and confess their error, 
{^^ therefore we have erred,^') but confess it with 
despair, because they see<that it is forever irrepara- 
ble. When the devil tempts you again to sin, re- 
member hell, have recourse to God and to the most 
holy Virgin. The thought of hell shall preserve 
you from hell, because it will make you have re- 
course to God. " Remember thy last end, and thou 
shalt never sin.'' — Eccl. vii. 40. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Sovereign Good, how often have I lost 
thee for nothing ! how often have I deserved to lose 
thee forever ! But I am consoled by the words of 
thy prophet, " Let the heart of them rejoice that 
seek the Lord." — Ps. civ. 3. I must not then de- 
spair of finding thee again, O my God, if I sincerely 
seek thee. Yes, my God, I now sigh for thy grace, 
more than for any other good. I am content to be 



276 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

deprived of all things, even of life, rather than see 
myself deprived of thy love. I love thee, O my 
Creator, above all things ; and, because I love thee, 
I am sorry for having offended thee. O my God,, 
whom I have lost and despised, pardon me immedi- 
ately, and enable me to find thee again ; for I wish 
never more to lose thee. If thou admittest me 
again to thy friendship, I will leave all things, and 
will seek to love thee alone. I hope to do so 
through thy mercy. Eternal Father, hear me for 
the love of Jesus Christ; pardon me, and give me 
the grace never more to be separated from thee. If 
I voluntarily lose thee again, I ought to fear that 
thou wilt abandon me. O Mary, O advocate of 
sinners, obtain for me the grace to make peace with 
God, and afterwards keep me under thy protection, 
that I may never more lose him. 



TWENTY-NINTH CONSIDERATION. 

ON HEAVEN. 

"Your sorrow shall be turned into joy." — John xvi. 20. 

FIRST POINT. 

Let us at present animate ourselves with the hope 
of heaven, to bear patiently the afflictions of this 
life, and to offer them to God in return for the suf- 
ferings which Jesus Christ endured for the love of 
us. All these afflictions, sorrows, persecutions, and 
fears, shall one day have an end, and shall, if we 
save our souls, become to us sources of joy and 
happiness in the kingdom of bliss. This is the 
ground of courage and hope which the Savior holds 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 277 

out to us. *' Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.*' 

— John xvi. 20. Let us, then, this day make some 
reflections on the joys of heaven. But what shall 
we be able to say on these joys, when the most en- 
lightened of the saints knew not how to give us an 
idea of that happiness which God has prepared for 
his faithful servants ? David could only say that 
paradise is a good exceedingly to be desired. *' How 
lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts ! " — Ps. 
Ixxxiii. 2. But, my beloved St. Paul,' do you, at 
least, who had the happiness of being rapt up into 
heaven, declare to us some of the things you have 
seen. " No,*' exclaims the apostle ; '* what 1 have seen 
it is impossible to describe. The delights of heaven 
are * secret words which it is not granted to man 
to utter.' " — 2 Cor. xii. 4. They are so great that 
they only who enjoy them are able to comprehend 
them. ** All that I can say of them,'' says the apos- 
tle, ** is, that * eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what 
things God hath prepared for them that love him.' " 

— 1 Cor. ii. 9. No man living has ever seen, or 
heard, or conceived, the beauty, the harmony, the 
delights, which God has prepared for those who love 
him. 

At present, it is impossible for us to comprehend 
the happiness of heaven, because we have no idea 
but of earthly enjoyments. Were a horse capable 
of reasoning, he would, if he expected a rich feast 
from his master, imagine it to consist in excellent 
hay and oats ; for these are the only species of food 
of which he has any idea. It is thus we form our 
notions of the happiness of heaven. It is beautiful 
in the summer to behold at night the starry heaven; 
it is delightful in the spring to stand on the shore 
when the sea is unruffled, and to see in its bosom 
24 



278 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

the rocks covered with sea-weed, and the fishes 
gliding through the waters ; it is also delightful to be 
in a garden full of fruits and flowers, ornamented 
with flowing fountains, and enlivened by the flutter 
and singing of birds : in such a scene one is tempt- 
ed to exclaim, ** O, what a paradise ! what a para- 
dise ! " But far different are the delights of heaven. 
To form some imperfect idea of them, let us reflect 
that in heaven is an all-powerful God, who has 
pledged himself to make the soul that loves him 
happy. Do you wish, says St. Bernard, to know 
what is in heaven? ** Nihil est quod nolis, totum 
est quod velis.'' There is nothing there that gives 
displeasure ; there is every thing that delights. 

O God ! what shall be the sentiments of the soul 
on its entrance into that happy kingdom ? Let us 
represent to our minds the death of a young man, 
who, after consecrating himself to the love of Jesus 
Christ, dies and quits this world. The soul is pre- 
sented for judgment ; the Judge embraces her, and 
pronounces the sentence of her salvation. Her' 
angel-guardian meets and congratulates with her ; 
she thanks him for his assistance, and the angel 
then says to her, ** Rejoice, O happy soul; thy sal- 
vation is now secure ; come and behold the face of 
thy Lord.'' Behold, the soul now passes beyond the 
clouds, the spheres, the stars, and enters into heav- 
en. O God ! what shall be her feelings on first 
getting her foot in this happy country, and behold- 
ing, for the first time, this city of delights ! The 
angels and the saints shall come to meet her, and 
shall receive her with a joyous welcome. What 
shall be her consolation in rejoining there her rela- 
tives or friends, who have been already admitted 
into heaven, and in meeting her holy advocates ! 
The soul shall wish to bend her knees to venerate 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 279 

these saints; but they shall say, " See thou do it not ; 
for I am thy fellow-servant/' — Apoc. xxii. 9. She 
shall thence be carried to kiss the feet of Mary, the 
queen of heaven. What tenderness shall not the 
soul experience in first beholding this divine mother, 
who gave her so much assistance in the work of her 
salvation ! for then the soul shall see all the graces 
she obtained through the intercession of Mary, who 
will embrace her with love and tenderness. This 
queen of heaven shall then conduct the soul to Je- 
sus, who will receive her as his spouse, and will say, 
" Come from Libanus, my spouse .... thou shall 
be crowned.'^ — Cant. iv. 8. My spouse, rejoice ; 
'there is now an end to tears, to sufferings, and to 
fears ; receive the eternal crown I have purchased 
for you by my blood. Jesus himself shall then pre- 
sent her to receive the benediction of his divine 
Father, who shall embrace and bless her, saying, 
*' Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord," (Matt. 
XXV. 21,) and shall bestow upon her the same hap- 
piness which he himself enjoys. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Behold, O my God, at thy feet an ungrateful sin- 
ner, whom thou hast created for heaven, but who 
has so often, for the sake of a wretched pleasure, 
renounced thee to thy face, and has consented to 
be condemned to hell. Biit I hope thou hast already 
pardoned me all the injuries I have done thee, for 
which I am always sorry, and will be sorry as long 
as I live. Of these injuries 1 desire to receive from 
thee new pardon. But, O God ! although my sins 
have been already forgiven, it will still be always 
true that I have dared to afflict thee, my Redeemer, 
who hast given thy life to bring me to thy kingdom. 
But may thy mercy be forever praised and blessed, 
Omy Jesus, for having borne with me with so much 



280 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

patience, and for having bestowed upon me multi- 
plied graces, instead of chastising me, as I deserved. 
I see, my dear Savior, that thoii dost ardently desire 
my salvation, and that thou vi^ishest to bring me to 
thy kingdom, that I may love thee forever; but it 
is thy wish that I should first love thee here on 
earth. Yes; I wish to love thee. Though there 
were no heaven, I would wish to love thee, while I 
live, with my whole soul and with all my strength. 
It is enough for me to know that thou, my God, de- 
sirest to be loved by me. My Jesus, assist me by 
thy grace ; do not abandon me. My soul is immor- 
tal ; I must then either love thee or hate thee for 
all eternity. Ah ! it is my wish to love thee for 
eternity, and I wish to love thee without reserve 
here, that I may love thee without reserve hereafter. 
Dispose of me as thou pleasest;" chastise me as 
thou wishest; do not deprive me of thy love, and 
then do with me what thou wishest. My Jesus, thy 
merits are my hope. O Mary, I place great confi- 
dence in thy intercession. Thou didst deliver me 
from hell when I was in sin ; now that I wish to 
give myself to God, obtain for me the grace to save 
my soul, and to become a saint. 

SECOND POINT. 

When the soul shall have once entered into the 
happy kingdom of God, there shall be nothing to 
molest her. *^ God shall wipe away all tears from 
their eyes; and death shall be no more, nor mourn- 
ing, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more ; for 
the former things are passed away. And he that 
sat on the throne said. Behold, I make all things 
new." — Apoc. xxi. 4, 5. In heaven there is no 
infirmity, no poverty, no distress?; there are no 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 281 

longer the vicissitudes of days and nights, nor of 
cold and heat; but a perpetual day, always serene, 
an eternal spring, always delightful. There are no 
persecutions, no envy. In that kingdom of love, 
all love each other tenderly ; and each rejoices in 
the good of the others as if it were his own. 
There are no fears; because the soul, being con- 
firmed in grace, can no longer sin nor lose her 
God. " Behold, I make all things new." Every 
thing is new; every thing gives consolation and 
content. The sight shall be filled with delight in 
beholding this *' city of perfect beauty. '* — Lam. ii. 
15. How delightful the view of a city, in which 
the streets are of crystal, the palaces of silver, the 
ceilings of gold, and all adorned with festoons of 
flowers ! O, how much more beautiful the city of 
paradise! how splendid the appearance of these 
citizens, who are all clothed in royal robes! for, as 
St. Augustine says, they are all kings. '*Cluot 
cives tot reges.'' How delightful must it be to be- 
hold Mary, who shall appear more beautiful than 
all paradise! But what must it be to see the Lamb 
of God, the Heavenly Spouse, Jesus ! St. Teresa 
got a transient glimpse of one of the hands of Jesus 
Christ, and was struck senseless by its beauty. 
The smell shall be regaled with odors, but with the 
odors of paradise. The ear shall be delighted with 
celestial harmony. St. Francis once heard from an 
angel a single stroke on a violin, and almost died 
through joy. What, then, must it be to hear the 
whole choir of saints and angels chanting the glories 
of God? *'They shall praise thee forever and ever." 
— Ps. Ixxxiii. 5. What must it be to hear Mary 
praising God ! St. Francis of Sales says that, as the 
singing of the nightingale surpasses that of all othei 
birds, so the voice of Mary is far superior to that of 
24* 



282 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

all the other saints. In a word, in heaven are 
found all the delights which can be desired. 

But the joys we have been hitherto considering 
are the least of the blessings of heaven. The good 
which constitutes heaven is God himself, the Sover- 
eign Good. '* Totum quod expectamus," says St, 
Augustine, ** duae syllabge sunt — Deus." The re- 
ward which God promises us, is not merely the 
beauty, the harmony, and the other joys of this 
blessed city ; the chief reward is God himself — 
that is, to see and love God face to face. ** I am 
thy reward exceeding great.'' — Gen. xv. 1. ^ St 
Augustine says that, if God showed his face to the 
damned, *' hell should be instantly turned into a 
paradise of delights.'^ — Tom. ix. de trip, habit. 
And he adds, that, were a departed soul allowed 
the choice of seeing God, and enduring the tor*- 
ments of hell, or of being delivered from them and 
deprived of the sight of God, " she would prefer to 
see the Lord, and to suffer these torments.'' 

During the present life, we cannot comprehend 
the delight of seeing and loving God face to face ; 
but we may form some notion of it by considering 
that divine love is so enchanting, that, even in this 
life, it h:is sometimes raised up from the earth, not 
only the souls, but even the bodies, of the saints. 
St. Philip Neri was once lifted up into the air 
along with a bench which he seized hold of St 
Peter Alcantara was also elevated from the earth, and 
a tree which he held was torn up from the roots. 
St Vincent, while he was tormented, spoke, says 
St. Augustine, in such a manner, that one person 
appeared to suffer, and another to speak. '* Alius 
videbatur pati, alius loqui." St. Lawrence, while 
he was on the red-hot gridiron, upbraided the 
tyrant, saying, ** Turn and eatJ^ Yes, says St. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH, 283 

Augustine ; for St. Lawrence, inflamed with the 
fire of divine love, was insensible to the burn- 
ing heat of the fire. ** Hoc igne divini amoris 
accensus non sentit incendium." Besides, how 
great the sweetness which a sinner experiences on 
this earth even in weeping over his sins! Hence 
St. Bernard used to say, If it is so sweet to 
weep for thee, what must it be to rejoice in thee ! 
** Si tarn dulce est flere pro te, quid erit gaudere 
de te?'' What sweetness does not a soui expe- 
rience when, by a ray of light, God unfolds to her 
in prayer his goodness, the mercies he has shown 
her, and the love which Jesus Christ has borne, 
and still bears to her ! In such moments, the soul 
melts and faints away through love. Yet in this 
life we do not see God as he is ; we see him only in 
the dark. ** We now see through a glass in a dark 
manner, but then face to face." — 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 
At present, there is a veil before our eyes, and God 
is seen only with the eyes of faith ; but what shall 
be our joy when the veil shall be removed, and we 
shall see God face to face ! We shall then see the 
infinite beauty of God, his infinite greatness, his 
justice, his perfection, his amiableness, and his in- 
finite love for us. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Sovereign Good, I am that wretch who 
has turned my back upon thee, and renounced thy 
love. I therefore am undeserving of seeing or of 
loving thee. But, to show mercy to me, thou hast 
not shown mercy to thyself, but hast condemned 
vhyself to a painful and ignominious death, on an 
yiifamous gibbet. Thy death, therefore, makes me 
hope that I shall one day see and enjoy thee face 
to face, and that I shall then love thee with all my 



284 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Strength. But, now that I am in danger of losing 
thee forever, now that I am conscious of having lost 
thee by my sins, what shall I do during the remain- 
der of my life? Shall I continue to offend thee? 
No, my Jesus, I detest with a sovereign hatred the 
offences I have offered thee. I feel a sovereign 
sorrow for having insulted thee, and I love thee 
with my whole heart. Wilt thou cast off a soul 
that repents and loves thee? No: I knovir, O my 
Redeemer, that thou hast said that thou wilt not 
reject any one that comes to thee with a penitent 
heart. *' Him that cometh to me I will not cast 
out." — John vi. 37. My Jesus, I renounce all 
things, and turn to thee. I embrace thee, and 
unite thee to my heart ; do thou also embrace me^ 
and unite me to thy heart. I dare to speak in this 
manner, because I speak and converse with infinite 
goodness. I speak with a God who was content to 
die for the love of me. My dear Savior, grant me 
perseverance in thy love. My dear mother Mary, 
through the love which thou bearest to Jesus Ciirist, 
obtain for me this perseverance. Such my hope, 
such my desire. 

THIRD POINT. 

In this life, the greatest pain which afflicts souls 
that are in desolation and love God, arises from the 
fear of not loving him, and of not being loved by 
him. '* Man knoweth not whether he be worthy 
of love or hatred." — Eccl. ix. 1. But in heaven 
the soul is certain that she loves God, and that he 
loves her. She sees that she is happily lost in the 
love of her Lord, and that he embraces her as a be- 
loved child, and that this love shall not be dissolved 
for all eternity. These blessed flames shall be aug- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 285 

Hiented by the increased knowledge which the soul 
shall then have of the greatness of the love of God 
in becoming man and dying for us ; of his love in 
instituting the most holy sacrament, in which a God 
becomes the food of a worm. Then also shall the 
soul clearly see all the graces which God has be- 
stowed upon her in delivering her from so many 
temptations and so many dangers of perdition ; she 
shall then understand that the tribulations, infirm- 
ities, persecutions, and losses, which she called 
misfortunes, and divine chastisements, were all 
love, all means intended by divine Providence to 
conduct her to heaven. She shall see particularly 
the patience of God in bearing with her after so 
many sins, and the mercies he had shown her in 
giving her so many lights and invitations to his 
love. From that blessed mountain she shall behold 
so many souls in hell, condemned for less sins than 
she had committed, and shall see that she is saved, 
that she is in the possession of God, and secure 
against all danger of ever losing that Sovereign 
Good for all eternity. 

The blessed then shall forever enjoy that felicity 
which, during each moment of eternity, shall be 
always as new as at the first moment of its enjoy- 
ment. The soul shall always desire and always 
possess that joy. She shall be always satisfied, and 
always thirsty ; forever thirsty, and always satiated 
with delights ; because the desire of heaven begets 
no pain, and its possession produces no tediousness. 
In a word, as the damned are vessels full of wrath, 
so the blessed are vessels filled with happiness, so 
that they have nothing more to desire. St. Tere- 
sa says that even in this life, when God introduces a 
soul into the cellar of wine, — that is, of his love, — 
she becomes happily inebriated, so that she loses ail 



286 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

affection for earthly things. But, in entering into 
paradise, how much more perfectly, as David says, 
shall the elect ** be inebriated with the plenty of 
God's house*'! — Ps. xxxv. 9. In seeing God face 
to face, and in embracing her Sovereign Good, the 
soul shall be so inebriated with love, tl^at she shall 
happily lose herself in God — that is, she shall en- 
tirely forget herself, and shall think only of loving, 
of praising, and of blessing the infinite good which 
she possesses. 

When, therefore, the crosses of this life afflict us, 
let us animate ourselves with the hope of heaven to 
bear them patiently. St. Mary of Egypt, being 
asked at the end of her life, by the abbot Zozimus, 
how she had been able to live for so many years 
in such a desert, replied, With the hope of heaven. 
When the dignity of cardinal was offered to St. 
Philip Neri, he threw up the cap in the air, ex- 
claiming. Paradise! Paradise! At the mention 
of paradise, brother Egidius, of the order of St. 
Francis, was raised up from the ground through 
joy. Let us likewise, when we are afflicted by the 
miseries of this life, raise up our eyes to heaven, and 
console ourselves, saying with a sigh, Heaven! 
Heaven ! Let us reflect that if we be faithful to 
God, all these sorrows, miseries, and fears, shall one 
day have an end, and we shall be admitted into that 
blessed country, where we shall enjoy complete hap- 
piness as long as God shall be God. Behold, the 
saints are expecting us, Mary is expecting us, and 
Jesus stands with a crown in his hand, to make us 
kings in that eternal kingdom. 

Affections and Prayers. 
My dear Jesus, thou hast taught me this prayer 
— - Thj/ kingdom come, I therefore now pray that 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 287 

thy kingdom may come into my heart, so that thou 
mayst . possess it entirely, and that my soul may 
possess thee, her Sovereign Good. O my Jesus, 
thou hast spared nothing in order to save me and to 
acquire my love; save me then, and let my salva- 
tion consist in loving thee always, in this life and 
in the next. I have so often turned my back upon 
thee, and yet thou assurest me that thou wilt not 
disdain to embrace me for all eternity in heaven, 
with as much love as if I had never oifended thee. 
And knowing this, can I ever love any thing else 
but thee, who wishest to bestow heaven upon me 
after I had so often deserved hell 1 Ah, my Lord, 
would that I had never offended thee ! O, were I 
born again, I would always love thee ! But what 
is done is done. I can now do no more than give 
thee the remainder of my life. Yes, I give it en- 
tirely to thee. I consecrate myself entirely to thy 
love. Depart from my heart, all earthly affections ; 
give place to my God, who wishes to possess it en- 
tirely. Yes; take possession of my whole being, 
my Redeemer, my Love, and my God. From this 
day forward I will think only of pleasing thee. 
Assist me by thy grace. I hope in thy merits. 
Augment in me continually thy love, and the de- 
sire of pleasing thee. Heaven ! Heaven ! When, 
O Lord, shall the day come on which I shall see 
thee face to face, and embrace thee, without fear 
of ever more losing thee ? Ah, my God, keep thy 
hand upon me, that I may never more offend thee. 
O Mary, when shall I see myself at thy feet in 
heaven ? Assist me, my mother ; do not permit me 
to be lost, and to go forever to a distance from thee 
and thy Son, 



288 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



THIRTIETH CONSIDERATION. 



ON PRAYER. 

" Ask, and it shall be given you ; for every one that asketh 
receiveth." — Luke xi. 9, 10. 



FIRST POINT. 

Not only in this, but in a thousand places in the 
Old and New Testaments, God promises to hear 
all who pray to him. " Cry to me, and I will hear 
thee." — Jer. xxxiii. 3. Turn to me, and I will hear 
you. " Call upon me, and I will deliver you from 
all dangers." — Ps. xlix. 15. ** If you shall ask 
any thing in my name, that I will do." — John xiv. 
14. ^ Whatsoever you shall ask through my merits, 
I will grant. " You shall ask whatever you will, 
and it shall be done unto you." — John xv. 7. Ask 
as much as you wish; all that you ask shall be 
given you. There are many other similar passages. 
Hence Theodoret has said that prayer is one, but 
can obtain all things. ** Oratio cum una sit omnia 
potest." St. Bernard says that, when we pray, the 
Lord will either give the grace we ask, or one which 
is more useful to us. ** Aut dabit quod petimus 
aut quod nobis noverit esse utilius." — Ser. in v. 
Fer. 4, Ciner. The prophet animates us to pray by 
assuring us that God is all mercy to those who in- 
voke his aid. ** Thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild, 
and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee." 
— Ps. Ixxxv. 5. The words of St. James are still 
more encouraging. ** If any of you want wisdom, 
let him ask of God, who giveth abundantly to all 
men, and upbraideth not." — St. James i. 5. This 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 289 

apostle tells us that, when we pray to the Lord, he 
opens his hands, and gives us more than we ask. 
" He giveth to all men abundantly^ and uphraideth 
notJ^ He does not reproach us with the offences we 
have offered to him ; but, when we pray to him, he 
appears to forget all the injuries we have done him. 
St. John Climacus used to say that prayer in a 
certain manner forces God to grant us whatsoever 
we ask of him. ** Prayer piously offers violence to 
God,'' But it is a violence which is dear to him, 
and which he desires from us. ** Haec vis grata 
Deo,'' says Tertullian. Yes j for, as St, Augustine 
says, God has a greater desire to give us his graces, 
than we have to receive them, ** Plus vult ille tibi 
beneficia elargiri, quam tu accipere concupiscas.'' 
The reason is, because God is of his own nature 
infinite goodness. " Deus cujus natura bonitas," 
says St. Leo, Hence he feels an infinite desire to 
impart his goods to us. Hence St. Mary Magdalene 
de Pazzi used to say, that God feels as it were under 
an obligation to the soul that prays to him ; because 
by prayer she opens to him the way by which he can 
satisfy his desire of dispensing his graces to us. 
David says that the goodness of God in instantly 
hearing all who pray to him, showed him that he 
was his true God. *' In what day soever I shall 
call upon thee, behold, I know thou art my God." 
— Ps. Iv. 10. Some, observes St. Bernard, com- 
plain that God is wanting to them ; but the Lord far 
more justly complains that many are wanting to him 
by neglecting to ask his graces. '* Multi queruntur 
deesse sibi gratiam, sed multo justius gratia quer- 
eretur deesse sibi multos." Of this precisely the 
Redeemer appears to have complained one day to 
his disciples. ** Hitherto you have not asked any 
thing in my name ; ask, and you shall receive, that 
25 



290 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

your joy may be full." — John xvi. 24. As if he 
said, Do not complain of me if you do not enjoy 
complete happiness ; complain of yourselves for not 
having asked my graces ; ask me for them hence- 
forth, and you shall be content. 

Hence, in their conferences, the ancient monks 
came to the conclusion, that there is no exercise 
more conducive to salvation than to pray always, and 
say, Lord, assist me, incline unto my aid, O God, 
The Venerable Paul Segneri used to say of himself, 
that in his meditations he was at first accustomed 
to spend his time in pious affections; but, having 
afterwards learned the great efficacy of prayer, he 
endeavored generally to employ himself in petitions 
to God. Let us always do the same. We have a 
God who loves us to excess, and who is solicitous 
for our salvation, and therefore he is always ready 
to hear all who ask his graces. The princes of the 
earth, says St. Chrysostom, give audience only to a 
few ; but God gives audience to all who wish for it. 
" Aures principis paucis patent, Deo vero omnibus 
volentibus." — Lib. ii. de Or at. ad Deum. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Eternal God, I adore thee, and I thank thee for 
all the benefits thou hast bestowed upon me — for 
having created me, for having redeemed me through 
Jesus Christ, for having made me a Christian, for 
having waited for me when I was in sin, and for 
having so often pardoned me. Ah, my God, I 
should never have offended thee, if in my tempta- 
tions I had recourse to thee. I thank thee for the 
light by w^hich thou now makest me understand that 
my salvation consists in praying to thee, and in ask- 
ing graces of thee. Behold, I entreat thee, in the 
name of Jesus Christ, to give me a great sorrow for 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 291 

my sins, holy perseverance in thy grace, a good 
death, heaven, hut, above all, the great gift of thy 
love, and perfect resignation to thy most holy will. 
I well know that I do not deserve these graces ; but 
thou hast promised them to all who ask them of 
thee through the merits of Jesus Christ ; through 
these merits I hope and ask for them. O Mary, 
thy prayers are always heard ; pray for me. 

SECOND POINT. 

Let us also reflect on the necessity of prayer. St. 
Chrysostom says that, " as the body without the 
soul is dead, so the soul is dead without prayer.'' 
He also teaches that, as water is necessary to pre- 
vent the decay of plants, so prayer is necessary to 
preserve us from perdition. ** Non minus quam 
arbores aquis, precibus indigemus." — Tom. i. hom. 
Ixxvii. God wills that all men be saved, (1 Tim. 
ii. 4,) and is unwilling that any be lost. '* The 
Lord .... dealeth patiently for your sake, not will- 
ing that any one should perish, but that all should 
return to penance.'' — 2 Pet. iii. 9. But he also 
wishes that we ask him for the graces necessary for 
salvation. For, on the one hand, it is impossible 
for us to observe the divine commands, and save our 
souls, without the actual assistance of God; and 
on the other, ordinarily speaking, God will not give 
us his graces unless we ask them from him. Hence 
the holy Council of Trent has declared that *' God 
has not commanded impossibilities ; because he either 
gives us the proximate and actual grace to fulfil his 
precepts, or he gives us the grace to ask him for 
this actual aid." — Sess. vi. c. xi. St. Augustine 
teaches that God gives without prayer the first 
graces, such as vocation to the faith and to repent^ 
ance ; but all other graces, and particularly the 



292 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

gift of perseverance, he gives only to those who 
ask them. "Constat alia Deum dare etiam non 
orantibus sicut initium fides, alia nonnisi orantibuj* 
prseparasse, sicut usque in finem perseverantiam." 
— De Dono Persev. cap. xvi. 

Hence theologians, after St. Basil, St. Augustine, 
St. John Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, and 
others, teach that for adults prayer is necessary as 
a means of salvation ; so that, without it, it is im- 
possible to be saved. And the most learned Lessius 
says that this doctrine must be held as of faith. 
"Fide tenendum est orationem adultis ad salutem 
esse necessariam, ut colligitur ex Scripturis.'' — De 
Just. lib. ii. cap. xxvii. num. 9. 

The Scriptures are clear on this point. "We 
ought always to pray." — Luke xviii. 1. " Pf ay, lest 
ye enter into temptation.'' — Luke xxii.40. " Ask, 
and you shall receive." — John xvi. 24. " Pray 
without ceasing." — 1 Thess. v. 17. The words 
we ought y praijy ask, according to St. Thomas (3 
part, qu. 39, art. 5) and the generality of theologi- 
ans, imply a strict precept, which binds under griev- 
ous sin, particularly in three cases — first, when a 
person is in the state of sin ; secondly, when he is 
in danger of death ; and thirdly, when he is in great 
danger of falling into sin. Theologians teach that, 
ordinarily, he who neglects prayer for a month, or, 
at most, for two months, is guilty of a mortal sin. 
(Less, loco citato.) The reason is, because prayer 
is a means without which we cannot obtain the 
helps necessary for salvation. 

^' Ashy and ymi shall receive.^' He who asks 
receives. "Then," says St. Teresa, " he who does 
not ask does not receive." And before her, St. 
James said the same. "You have not, because 
you ask not." — St. James iv. 2. Prayer is par- 



\ 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 293 

ticularly necessary to obtain the virtue of conti- 
nence. '"And," said the wise man, *' as I knew 
that I could not otherwise be continent, except 
God gave it, .... I went to the Lord, and besought 
him.'' — Wis. viii. 21. Let us conclude this point. 
He who prays is certainly saved ; he who does not 
pray is certainly lost. All the elect are saved by 
prayer ; all the damned are lost by neglect of 
prayer ; and their greatest despair is, and shall be 
forever, caused by the conviction, that they had it 
in their power to save their souls so easily by 
prayer, and that now the time of salvation is no 
more. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my Reedemer, how have I been able hitherto 
to live in such forgetfulness of thee ? Thou wert 
prepared to grant me all the graces which I should 
ask of thee ; thou only waitest for me to ask them. 
But I have thought only of indulging my senses, 
and have been indifferent about the privation and 
loss of thy love and of thy graces. Lord, forget all 
my ingratitude, and have mercy on me. Pardon 
me all the displeasure I have given thee, and grant 
me perseverance. O God of my soul, give me the 
grace always to ask thy aid not to offend thee. Do 
not permit me to be, as I have hitherto been, negli- 
gent in the performance of this duty. Grant me 
light and strength always to recommend myself to 
thee, and particularly when my enemies tempt me 
to offend thee again. Grant, O my God, this grace 
through the merits of Jesus Christ, and through 
the love which thou bearest to him. O Lord, I 
have offended thee enough. I wish to love thee 
during the remainder of my life. Give me thy 
love ; and may this love remind me to ask thy aid 
25* 



JB94 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

whenever I shall be in danger of losing thee by 
sin. Mary, my hope after Jesus, through thy inter- 
cession I hope for the grace to recommend myself, 
in all my temptations, to thee and to thy Son. Hear 
me, O my queen, through the love which thou bear- 
est to Jesus Christ. 

THIRD POINT. 

Lastly, let us consider the conditions of prayer. 
Many pray, and do not obtain the object of their 
prayers, because they do not pray as they ought. 
^^You ask,'' says St. James, *' and receive not, 
because you ask amiss." — Epis. iv. 3. To pray 
well, it is necessary, in the first place, to pray with 
humility. " God resisteth the proud, and giveth 
grace to the humble." — Ibid. iv. 6. God rejects 
the petitions of the proud, but does not allow the 
humble to depart without hearing all their prayers. 
" The prayer of him that humbleth himself shall 
pierce the clouds, .... and he will not depart till 
the Most High behold." — EccL xxxv. 21. This 
holds, even though they have been hitherto sinners* 
*' A contrite and humble heart, O God, thou wilt 
not despise." — Ps. i. Secondly, it is necessary to 
pray with confidence. '^ No one hath hoped in the 
Lord, and hath been confounded." — Eccl. ii. 11. 
Jesus Christ has taught us to call God, in our peti- 
tions for his graces, by no other name than that of 
Father, in order to make us pray with the same 
confidence with which a child has recourse to a 
parent. He, then, who prays with confidence, ob- 
tains every grace. *' All things whatsoever you 
ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, 
and they shall come unto you." — Mark xi. 24. 
And who, says St. Augustine, can fear that the 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 295 

promises of God, who is truth itself, shall be vio- 
lated ? ''Quis falli metuit dum promittit Veritas?''' 
God, says the Scripture, is not like men, who prom- 
ise, but do not perform, either because they intend 
to deceive, or because they change their purpose. 
** God is not as a man, thit he should lie, nor as the 
son of man, that he should be changed. Hath he 
told them, and will he not do?" — Num. xxiii. 19. 
And why, adds the same St. Augustine, should the 
Lord so earnestly exhort us to ask his graces, if he 
did not wish to bestow them upon us? ** Non nos 
hortaretur ut peteremus nisi dare vellet." — De 
Verb. Dom. serm. v. By his promises he has 
bound himself to grant us the graces we ask from 
him. '^ By promising, ^^ ^di^s St. Augustine, ^^ he 
has made himself a debtor. ^^ — Ibid. serm. ii. 

But some will say, '* I am a sinner, and therefore 
I do not deserve to be heard." In answer, St. 
Thomas says that the efficacy of prayei to obtain 
graces, depends, not on our merits, but on the divine 
mercy. ^' Oratio impetrando non innititur nostris 
meritis, sed soli divinge misericordiae." — 2. 2. qu. 
178, art. 2, ad. 1. " Every one," says Jesus Christ, 
" that asketh, receiveth," ( Luke xi. 10 ;) '' that is," 
says the author of the Imperfect Work, '^ every one, 
whether he be a just man or a sinner.'' — Horn, 
xviii. But the Redeemer himself takes aw^ay all 
fear, saying, '* Amen, amen, I say to you, If you 
ask the Father any thing in my name, he will give it 
to you." — John xvi. 23. As if he said. Sinners, 
if you are without merits, I have merits before my 
Father. Ask, then, in my name, and I promise 
that you shall receive whatsoever you ask. But it 
is necessary to know that this promise does not ex- 
tend to temporal favors, such as health, goods of 
fortune, and the like; for God often justly refuses 



296 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

these graces, because he sees that they should be 
injurious to our salvation. '* The physician/' says 
St. Augustine, *^ knows better than the patient what 
is useful to him." " duid infirmo sit utile, magis 
novit medicus quam aegrotus." — Tom. iii. chap, 
ccxii. The holy doctor adds, that God refuses to 
some through mercy what he gives to others through 
wrath. ^' Deus negatpropitius quae concedit iratus." 
Hence we should ask temporal blessings only on 
condition that they shall be profitable to the soul. 
But spiritual graces, such as pardon of sins, perse- 
verance, divine love, and the like, should be asked 
absolutely, and with a firm confidence of obtaining 
them. *' If," says Jesus Christ, " you, being evil, 
know how to give good gifts to your children, how 
much more will your Father from heaven give the 
good Spirit to them that ask him ! " — Luke xi. 13. 
Above all, perseverance in prayer is necessary. 
In his commentary on the eleventh chapter of St. 
Luke, Cornelius aLapide says, that the Lord " wishes 
us to persevere in prayer even to importunity." 
This may be inferred from the following passages 
of Scripture — '^ We ought always to pray." — 
Luke xviii. 1. ^' Watch ye, therefore, praying at 
all times." — Luke xxi. 36. ^^ Pray without ceas- 
ing." — 1 Thess. V. 17. It may be also inferred from 
our Lord's repeated exhortations to prayer. " Ask, 
and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; 
knock, and it shall be opened to you." — Luke xi. 
9. It might be sufficient to have said ask ; but no ; 
the Lord wishes us to understand that we ought to 
imitate beggars, who do not cease to ask, to entreat, 
and to knock at the gate, until they receive an alms. 
But final perseverance, in particular, is a grace 
which is not obtained without continual prayer. We 
cannot merit this grace of perseverance ; but, ac- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 297 

cording to St. Augustine, it may be merited in a 
certain manner. '* This gift/' says the holy doctor, 
'* can be suppliantly merited ; that is, it may be ob- 
tained by supplication." — De Dono Persev. cap. 
vi. Let us, then, if we wish to be saved, pray 
always, and never cease to pray. And let all con- 
fessors and preachers, if they desire the salvation of 
souls, never cease to exhort their penitents or hear- 
ers to prayer. And, in conformity with the advice 
of St. Bernard, let us always have recourse to the 
intercession of Mary. '*Letus ask grace, and ask 
it through Mary ; for what she asks she obtains, 
and her prayer cannot be fruitless." — Serm. de 
Aquaeduct. 

Affections and Prayers. 

My God, I hope that thou hast already pardoned 
me ; but my enemies shall not ceafee to fight against 
me till death. Unless thou dost assist me, I shall 
lose thee again. Ah ! through the merits of Jesus 
Christ, I ask holy perseverance. Do not permit me 
to be separated from thee. And I ask the same 
grace for all who are at present in the state of grace. 
I hope with certainty in thy promise, that thou wilt 
give me perseverance if I shall continue to ask it 
from thee. But I fear that in my temptations shall 
I neglect to have recourse to thee, and that thus 
shall I relapse into sin. I therefore ask of thee the 
grace never more to neglect prayer. Grant that, in 
the occasions in which I shall be in danger of re- 
lapsing, I may recommend myself to thee, and may 
invoke the aid of the most holy names of Jesus and 
Mary. My God, this I purpose and hope to do 
wqth the assistance of thy grace. Hear me for the 
sake of Jesus Christ. O Mary, my mother, obtain 
for me the grace, that, in all dangers of losing God, 
I may have recourse to thee and to thy Son. 



C( 



298 FKEPARATION FOR DEATH. 



THIRTY-FIRST CONSIDERATION. 



ON PERSEVERANCE. 

" He that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.** — 
Matt. xxiv. 13. 



FIRST POINT. 

St. Jerome says, that many begin well, but few 
persevere. *' Incipere multorum est, perseverare 
paucorum." — Lib. i. Contra Jovin. Saul, Judas, 
Tertullian, began well, but ended badly, because 
they did not persevere in grace. ** Non queeruntur 
in Christianis initia," says the same St. Jerome, 

sed finis.'' — Ep. ad Fur. The Lord, says the 
saint, requires not only the beginning of a good 
life, but also the end ; it is the end that shall be 
rewarded. St. Bonaventure says, that the crown is 
given only to perseverance. ** Sola perseverantia 
coronatur." Hence St. Lawrence Justinian calls 
perseverance the gate of heaven. " Cceli januam." 
No one can enter paradise unless he find the gate of 
heaven. My brother, at present you have renounced 
sin, and justly hope that you have been pardoned. 
You are then the friend of God ; but remember that 
you are not yet saved. And when shall you be 
saved ? When you shall have persevered to the end. 
'* He that shall persevere to the end, he shall be 
saved." Have you begun a good life ? Thank the 
Lord for it ; but St. Bernard warns you that to him 
who begins, a reward is only promised, and is given 
only to him who perseveres. '^ Inchoantibus pre- 
mium promittitur, perseverantibus datur." — Ser, 
vi, de modo bene viv. It is not enough to run for 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 299 

the prize; you must run till you win it. " So rjn," 
says St. Paul, *^ that you may obtain.'* — 1 Cor. 
ix. 24. 

You have already put your hand to the plough, 
and you have begun to live well ; but now you 
must tremble and fear more than ever. ** With 
fear and trembling work out your salvation." — 
Philip, ii. 1*2. And why ? Because if (God forbid 
it should happen) you look back and return to a 
life of sin, God shall declare you unfit for paradise. 
**No mail putting his hand to the plough, and look- 
ing back, is fit for the kingdom of God.'' — Luke 
ix. 62. At present, through the grace of God, you 
avoid evil occasions, you frequent the sacraments, 
and make meditation every day. Happy you if you 
continue to do so, and if, when he shall come to 
judge you, Jesus Christ shall find you doing these 
things. *' Blessed is that servant whom, when his 
Lord shall come, he shall find so doing." — Matt, 
xxiv. 46. But do not imagine that, now that you 
have begun to serve God, there is as it were an 
end, or a lack of temptations ; listen to the advice 
of the Holy Ghost. *' Son, when thou comest to the 
service of God .... prepare thy soul for tempta- 
tion." — Eccl. ii. L Remember that now, more than 
ever, you must prepare yourself for conflicts, because 
your enemies, the world, the devil, and the flesh, 
shall arm themselves now, more than ever, to fight 
against you, in order to deprive you of all that you 
have acquired. Denis, the Carthusian, says, that 
the more a soul gives herself to God, the more 
strenuously hell labors to destroy her. '' duanto 
quis fortius nititur Deo servire, tanto acrius adver- 
sus eum saevit adversarius." And this is sufficient- 
ly expressed in the Gospel of St. Luke, where Jesus 
Christ says, ** When the unclean spirit is gone out 



300 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

of a man, he walketh through places without water; 
seeking rest, and not finding it, he saith, I will 
return into my house, whence I came out. And 
when he is come, he findeth it swept and garnished. 
Then he goeth, and taketh with him seven other 
spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in, 
they dwell there. And the last state of that man 
becomes worse than the first." — Luke xi. 24, 25, 
26. When banished from a soul, the devil finds no 
repose, and does every thing in his power to return ; 
he even calls companions to his aid ; ^nd if he 
succeeds in reentering, the second fall of that 
soul shall be far more ruinous than the first. 

Consider, then, what arms you must use in order 
to defend yourself against these enemies, and to 
preserve your soul in the grace of God. To es- 
cape defeat, and to conquer the devil, there is no 
other defence than prayer. St. Paul says that we 
have to contend, not with men of flesh and blood 
like ourselves, but with the princes of hell. **Our 
wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against 
principalities and powers." — Eph. vi. 12. By 
these words the apostle wished to admonish us that 
we have not strength to resist such powerful ene- 
mies, and that we stand in need of aid from God. 
With his aid we shall be able to do all things. *' I 
can do all things in him that strengtheneth me." — 
Phil. iv. 13. Such the language of St. Paul ; such, 
too, should be our language. But this divine aid is 
given only to those who pray for it. '' Ask, and 
you shall receive,'' Let us, then, not trust in our 
purposes; if w^e trust in them, we shall be lost. 
Whenever the devil tempts us, let us place our en- 
tire confidence in the divine assistance, and let us 
recommend ourselves to Jesus Christ and most 
holy Mary. We ought to do this particularly as 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 301 

often as we are tempted against chastity. For this 
is the most terrible of all temptations, and is the 
one by which the devil gains most victories. We 
have not strength to preserve chastity ; this strength 
must come from God. *^ And/' said Solomon, ** as 
I knew that I could not otherwise be continent ex- 
cept God gave it .... I went to the Lord, and 
besought him." — Wis. viii. 21. In such tempta- 
tions, then, we must instantly have recourse to 
Jesus Christ, and to his holy mother, frequently in- 
voking the most holy names of Jesus and Mary. 
He who does this shall conquer ; he who neglects it 
shall be lost. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my God, '' cast me not away from thy face.'' 
1 know that thou shalt never abandon me, unless I 
first abandon thee. Experience of my own weak- 
ness makes me tremble lest I should again forsake 
thee. Lord, it is from thee I must receive the 
strength necessary to conquer hell, which labors to 
make me again its slave. This strength I ask of 
thee for the sake of Jesus Christ. O my Savior, 
establish between thee and me a perpetual peace, 
which shall never be broken for all eternity. For 
this purpose I ask thy love. ** He who loves not, 
is dead." O God of my soul, it is by thee I must 
be saved from this unhappy death. I was lost; 
thou knowest it. It is thy goodness alone that has 
brought me into the state in which I am at present, 
in which I hope I am thy friend. Ah, my Jesus, 
through the painful death which thou didst suffer 
for my salvation, do not permit me ever more to lose 
thee voluntarily. I love thee above all things. I 
hope to see myself always bound with this holy love, 
and to die in the bonds of love, and to live for eter- 
26 



302 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

nity in the chains of thy love. O Mary, thou art 
Called the mother of perseverance ; through thee 
this great gift is dispensed. Through thy interces- 
sion I ask and hope to obtain it. 

SECOND POINT. 

Let us now see how we must conquer the world. 
The devil is a great enemy of our salvation, but the 
world is worse. If the devil did not make use of 
the world and of wicked men, by whom we mean the 
world, he should not obtain the victories which he 
gains. *' But," says Jesus Christ, '* beware of men." 
— Matt. X. 17. Men are often worse than the devils ; 
for these fly away when we pray and invoke the 
most holy names of Jesus and Mary. But when a 
person gives a becoming answer to wicked compan- 
ions, who tempt him to sin, they redouble their 
efforts, they treat him with ridicule, upbraiding him 
with vulgarity and want of education; and when 
they can say nothing else, they call him a hypocrite, 
who only pretends to sanctity. To escape such 
derision and reproach, certain wenk souls miserably 
associate with these ministers of Lucifer, and return 
to the vomit. My brother, be persuaded that, if 
you wish to lead a holy life, you must expect the 
ridicule and contempt of the wicked. ** The wicked," 
says the Holy Ghost, ^* loathe them that are m the 
righ't way." — Prov. xxix. 27. He who lives in sin 
cannot bear the sight of those who live according 
to the Gospel. And why ? Because their life is a 
continual reproach to him ; and therefore, to avoid 
the pain of remorse caused by the good example of 
others, he would wish that all should imitate his own 
wickedness. There is no remedy. The apostle 
tells us that he who serves God must be persecuted 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 303 

by the world. '* All that will live godly in Christ 
Jesus shall suffer persecution." — 2 Tim. iii. 12. 
All the saints have been persecuted. Who more 
holy than Jesus Christ 1 The world persecuted 
him so as to condemn him to die on a cross, ex- 
hausted of his blood. 

There is no alternative ; for the maxims of the 
world are diametrically opposed to the maxims of 
Jesus Christ. What the world esteems, Jesus Christ 
has called folly. '' For the wisdom of this world is 
foolishness with God." — 1 Cor. iii. 19. And the 
world regards as folly what Jesus Christ has 
strongly recommended, such as crosses, pains, and 
contempt. **For the word of the cross, to them 
indeed that perish, is foolishness." — 1 Cor. i. 18. 
But, if the wicked revile and reproach us, let us 
console ourselves with the reflection that God 
blesses and praises us. '^ They will curse, and thou 
wilt bless." — Ps. cviii. 28. Is it not enough for us 
to be praised by God, by Mary, by the angels, the 
saints, and all good men? Let us, then, leave sin- 
ners to say what they please, and let us continue to 
please God, who is grateful and faithful to all who 
serve him. The greater the opposition and difficulty 
we meet in doing good, the more we shall please 
God and treasure up merit for ourselves. Let us 
imagine that we are alone with God in this world. 
When the wicked treat us with derision, let us rec- 
ommend them to the Lord, let us thank him for giv- 
ing us light, which he does not give to these miser- 
able men, and let us continue our journey. Let us 
not be ashamed to appear like Christians ; for, if 
we are ashamed of Jesus Christ, he protests that he 
will be ashamed of us on the day of judgment. 
*' For he that shall be ashamed of me and of my 
words, of him the Son of man shall be ashamed, 



304 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

when he shall come in his majesty." — Luke 
ix. 26. 

If we wish to save our souls, we must resolve to 
suffer, and to do violence to ourselves. '^ How nar- 
row is the gate and strait is the way that leadeth to 
life ! '' — Matt. vii. 14. '' The kingdom of heaven 
suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away." — 
Matt. xi. 12. He who does not violence to himself, 
shall not be saved. There is no remedy. If we 
wish to do good, we must act in opposition to our 
rebellious nature. In the beginning, it is particu- 
larly necessary to do violence to ourselves in order 
to root out bad habits, and to acquire habits of vir- 
tue. When good habits are once acquired, the ob- 
servance of the divine law becomes easy, and even 
sweet. Our Lord said to St. Bridget, that when, in 
the practice of virtue, a person suffers the first punc- 
tures of the thorns with patience and courage, these 
thorns afterwards become roses. Be attentive, then, 
dearly beloved Christian. Jesus Christ now says to 
you what he said to the paralytic : '* Behold, thou 
art made whole; sin no more, lest some worse thing 
happen to thee." — John v. 14. Remember, says 
St. Bernard, that if you have the misfortune of re- 
lapsing into sin, your relapse shall be more disas- 
trous than all your falls. '* Audi recidere quam 
incidere esse deterius." Woe, says the Lord, to 
them who begin to walk in the way of God, and 
afterwards forsake it. '* Woe to you, apostate chil- 
dren." — Isa. XXX. 1. Such sinners are punished as 
rebels against God's light. *' They have been re- 
bellious to the light." — Job xxiv. 13. The chas- 
tisement of these rebels, who have been favored by 
God with a great light, and have been afterwards 
unfaithful to him, is, to remain in blindness, and 
thus die in their sins. " But if the just man turn 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 305 

himself away from his justice .... shall he live? 
All his justices which he hath done shall not be re- 
membered; in the prevarication by which he hath 
prevaricated, and in his sin which he hath commit- 
ted, in them he shall die.'' — Ezec. xviii. 24. 

Affections and Prayers. 
Ah, my God ! such a chastisement I have often 
deserved, because I have, through the light which 
thou gavest me, renounced sin, and have miserably 
returned to it. I infinitely thank thy mercy for not 
having abandoned me in my blindness by leaving 
me entirely destitute of light, as I deserved. Great, 
then, O my Jesus, are my obligations to thee, and 
great should be my ingratitude, were I again to 
turn my back upon thee- No, my Redeemer ; the 
mercies of the Lord I will sing forever. I hope 
that, during the remainder of my life, and for all 
eternity, I will always sing and praise thy mercies, 
by loving thee always, and never more seeing my- 
self bereft of thy graces. The great ingratitude 
with which I have hitherto treated thee, and which 
I now hate and curse above every evil, shall serve 
to make me weep bitterly over the injuries I have 
done thee, and to inflame me still more with the 
love of thee, who, after I had given thee so many 
grievous offences, hast bestowed upon me so many 
great graces. Yes, I love thee, O my God, worthy 
of infinite love. Henceforth thou shalt be my only 
love, my only good. O eternal Father, through the 
merits of Jesus Christ I ask of thee final persever- 
ance in thy grace and in thy love. I know that 
thou wilt grant it to me whenever I shall ask it. 
But wljo assures me that I shall be carefui to ask 
this perseverance from thee ? Hence, O my God, I 
ask perseverance, and the grace always to ask it of 
26* 



306 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

thee. O Mary, my advocate, my refuge, and my 
hope, obtain for me, by thy intercession, the gift of 
constancy in always asking of God the grace of 
final perseverance. Through the love which thou 
bearest Jesus Christ, I ask thee to obtain for me 
this gift. 

THIRD POINT. 

Let us come to the third enemy, that is, the flesh, 
which is the worst of all ; and let us see how we 
must defend ourselves against its attacks. The first 
means is prayer ; but this we have already consid- 
ered. The second is, to avoid the occasions of sin; 
and let us now ponder well upon this means of over- 
coming the flesh. St. Bernardine says that the 
greatest of all counsels, and the one which is, as it 
were, the foundation of religion, is to fly from sin- 
ful occasions. " Inter consilia Christi unam oelc- 
berrimum et quasi religionis fundamentum est fu- 
gere peccatorum occasiones." — Tom. i. serm. xxi. 
art. 3, cap. 3. Being compelled by exorcisms, the 
devil once confessed that, of all sermons, that which 
displeased him most was the sermon on avoiding 
the occasions of sin ; and justly ; for the devil laughs 
at all the resolutions and promises of penitent sin- 
ners who remain in the occasion of sin. The occa- 
sion of sins of the flesh, in particular, is like a veil 
placed before the eyes, which prevents the soul from 
seeing either her resolutions, or the lights received 
from God, or the truths of eternity ; in a word, it 
makes her forget everything, and almost blinds her. 
The neglect of avoiding the occasions of sin was 
the cause of the fall of our first parents. God had 
forbidden them even to touch the forbidden fruit. 
" God commanded us,'' said Eve, '^ that we should not 
eat, and that we should not touch it" — Gen. iii. 3. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 307 

But through want of caution she saio, tooJc, and ate 
it. She first began to look at the apple, she after- 
wards took it in her hand, and then ate it. ** He 
who loves danger shall perish in it.'' — Eccl. iii. 27. 
St. Peter tells us that the devil goeth about seeking 
whom he viay devour. And what, says St. Cypri- 
an, does he do in order to enter again into the soul 
from which he has been expelled? He seeks an oc- 
casion of sin. *' Explorat an sit pars, cujus adita 
penetretur." If the soul permit him to bring her 
into the occasion of sin, he shall enter again, and 
shall devour her. Guerric, the abbot, says that Laza- 
rus came forth from the grave bound hand and foot 
— " Prodiit ligatus manibus et pedibus; " and after 
rising in this state he died again. Miserable, this 
author means to say, is the man who rises from sin 
bound by the occasion of sin ; though he should 
rise, he surely shall die again. He, then, who wish- 
es to be saved, must forsake, not only all sin, but 
the occasions of sin, that is, the companions, the 
house, the connections which lead to sin. 

But you will say, '' I have changed my life, and 
now I have no bad motive, nor even a temptation, 
in the society of such a person." I answer, It is 
related, that in Mauritania there are bears that go 
in s^ch of the apes. As soon as they see a bear, 
the apes save themselves by climbing up the trees. 
But what does the bear do? He stretches himself, 
as if dead, under the tree; and when the apes de- 
scend, he springs up, seizes, and devours them. It 
is thus the devil acts^ he makes the temptations 
appear dead ; and when the soul exposes herself to 
the occasion of sin, he excites the temptation, which 
devours her. O, how many miserable souls, that 
practised mental prayer, frequented communion, and 
might be called saints, have, by putting themselves 



308 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

into dangerous occasions, become the prey of hell ! 
It is related in ecclesiastical history, that a holy 
matron who devoted herself to the pious work of 
burying the martyrs, found one of them not dead. 
She brought him to her house; he recovered. What 
happened ? By the proximate occasion, these two 
saints, as they might be called, first lost the grace 
of God, and afterwards lost the faith. 

*' The Lord commanded Isaias to proclaim that 
all flesh is grass." — Isa. xl. 6. Is it possible, says 
St. John Chrysostom, for hay not to burn when it is 
thrown into the fire ? *' Lucernam in foenum pone, 
ac tum aude negare quod foenum exuratur." And 
St. Cyprian says that it is impossible to stand in the 
midst of flames, and not be burned. '' Impossibile 
est flammis circumdari, et non ardere." — De sing, 
cler. According to the prophet Isaias, our strength 
is like that of tow cast into the fire. '' And your 
strength shall be as the ashes of tow." — Isa. i. 31^ 
And Solomon says that it would be folly to expect 
to walk on red-hot coals without being burnt. " Can 
a man walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be 
burned?" — Prov. vi.27,28. Thus it is likewise 
folly to expose ourselves to the occasion of sin, and 
to expect not to fall. It is necessary then to fly 
from sin as from the face of a serpent. ** Fle^from 
sins as from the face of a serpent." — Eccl. xxi. 2. 
We ought, says Gualfrido, not only to avoid the 
bite or contact of a serpent, but should also abstain 
from approaching it. *^ Fuge etiam tactus, etiam 
accessum." But you will say, *' My interest re- 
quires that I should frequent such a house, or that I 
should keep up a certain friendship." But if you 
see that such a house is for you a way^ to hell, there 
is no remedy; you must forsake it if you wish to 
gave your soul. ** Her house is the way to hejl." — 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH* 309 

Prov. vii. 27. The Lord tells you that if your right 
eye is a cause of damnation to you, you must pluck 
it out and cast it from you. — Matt. v. 29. Mark 
the words, from 1/ou ; you must cast it, not beside 
you, but to a distance from you ; that is, you must 
take away every occasion of sin. St. Francis of 
Assisium says that the devil tempts spiritual souls, 
who have given themselves to God, in a way differ- 
ent from that in which he tempts the wicked. In 
the beginning he does not seek to bind them with a 
chain ; he is content to hold them by a single hair ; 
he then binds them with a slender thread; after- 
wards with a cord ; then with a chain ; and thus 
drags them to sin. And therefore he who wishes 
to be free from the danger of perdition, must, in the 
beginning, break all these hairs; he must avoid all 
occasions of sin; he must give up these salutations, 
presents, billets, and the like. And for those who 
have contracted a habit of sins against purity, it 
will not be enough to avoid proximate occasions ; 
unless they fly even from remote occasions, they 
shall relapse. 

He who sincerely wishes to be saved, must, by 
often repeating with the saints, Let all be lost pro- 
vided God is not lost, labor continually to strengthen 
and renew his resolution of never again renouncing 
the friendship of God. But it is not enough to 
resolve never more to lose God ; it is moreover 
necessary to adopt the means by which you may be 
preserved from thfe danger of losing him. The 
first means is, to avoid the occasions of sin ; of this 
we have already spoken. The second is, to fre- 
quent the sacraments of penance and the eucharist. 
In the house which is often swept, there is no un- 
clcanness. By the sacrament of penance the soul 
is purified ; by it she obtains not only the remission 



310 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

of sins, but also help to resist temptations. The 
communion is called the bread of heaven ; because, 
as the body cannot live without earthly food, so the 
soul cannot live without this celestial bread. " Ex- 
cept you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink 
his blood, you shall not have life in you." — John 
vi. 54. But, on the other hand, to those who fre- 
quently eat this bread, is promised eternal life. " If 
any man eat of this bread he shall live forever." — 
John vi. 52. Hence the Council of Trent calls the 
communion a medicine which delivers us from ve- 
nial, and preserves us from mortal sins. — Sess. xiii. 
cap. ii. The third means is, meditation, or men- 
tal prayer. '' Remember thy last end, and thou 
shalt never sin." — Eccl. vii. 40. He who keeps 
before his eyes the eternal truths — death, judg- 
ment, eternity — shall not fall into sin. God en- 
lightens us in meditation. ** Come ye to him, and 
be enlightened." — Ps. xxxiii. 6. In meditation 
God speaks to us and makes known to us what we 
are to avoid, and what w^e are to do. ''I will lead 
her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her 
heart." — Osee ii. 14. Meditation is the blessed 
furnace in which divine love is lighted up. " In 
my meditation a fire shall flame out." — Ps. xxxviii. 
4. To preserve the soul in the grace of God, it is, 
as has been already said, absolutely necessary al- 
ways to pray, and to ask for the graces we stand in 
need of They who do not make mental prayer, 
shall scarcely pray for God's graces; and by neg- 
lecting to pray for them, they shall certainly be 
lost. 

It is necessary then to adopt the means of salva- 
tion, and to lead a life of order and regularity. It 
is necessary, after rising in the morning, to make 
the Christian acts of thanksgiving, love, oblation, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 311 

and a purpose of avoiding sin, along with a prayer 
to Jesus and Mary that they may preserve you from 
sin during the day; you should afterwards make 
your meditation, and hear mass. During the day, 
you ought to read a spiritual lecture, make a visit 
to the blessed sacrament and to an image of the 
divine mother. In the evening, say the rosary, and 
make an examen of conscience. Go to commun- 
ion several times in the week, according as your 
director may advise ; you should ordinarily go to 
confession to the same confessor. It would also be 
very profitable to make the spiritual exercises in 
some religious house. It is likewise necessary to 
honor most holy Mary by some special devotion — 
such as by fasting on Saturday. She is called the 
mother of perseverance, and she promises to obtain 
it for all who serve her. '* They that work by me 
shall not sin." — Eccl. xxiv. 30. Above all, it is 
necessary to ask of God holy perseverance, and es- 
pecially in the time of temptation, invoking then 
more frequently the names of Jesus and Mary as 
long as the temptation continues. If you act in 
this manner, you shall certainly be saved ; if not, 
you shall certainly be lost. 

Affections and Prayers. 

My dear Redeemer, I thank thee for the lights 
which thou now givest me, and for the means of 
salvation which thou makest known to me. I 
promise to endeavor to persevere in the practice of 
them. I see that thou wishest for my salvation; 
and I wish to be saved principally to please thy 
heart, which so ardently desires my salvation. O 
my God, I will no longer resist the love which 
thou entertainest for me. This love has made thee 
bear me with so much patience when I offended 



312 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

thee. Thou callest me to thy love, and I desire 
only to love thee. I love thee, O infinite Goodness, 
I love thee, O infinite Good. Ah, I entreat thee, 
through the merits of Jesus Christ, not to permit 
me to be ever again ungrateful to thee; either 
make me cease to be ungrateful to thee, or make 
me cease to live. Lord, thou hast already begun 
the work ; bring it to perfection. Give me light, 
give me strength, give me love. O Mary, who art 
the treasurer of graces, assist me, accept me for 
thy servant, and pray to Jesus for me. Through 
the merits of Jesus Christ first, and then through 
thy prayers, I hope for salvation. 



THIRTY-SECOND CONSIDERATION.* 

ON CONFIDENCE IN THE PATRONAGE OF 
MARY. 

" He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salva- 
tion from the Lord." — Prov. viii. 35. 

FIRST POINT. 

** O, HOW great should be our thankfulness to 
the mercy of God, for having given us for our advo- 

* In a notice to the reader, prefixed to the " Glories of 
Mary," St. Alphonsus explains the sense in which he wished 
his doctrine regarding the privileges of the Blessed Virgin to 
be understood. He concludes this explanation in the follow* 
ing words : " Then, to say all in a few words, the God of 
all holiness, in order to glorify the Redeemer, has decreed and 
ordained, that her great charity should pray for all those for 
whom her divine Son has paid and offered the most supera- 
bundant price of his precious blood, in which alone is * our 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 313 

cate Mary, who, by her prayers, can obtain for iis 
all the graces we stand in need of. " — St. Bonaven- 
ture, in Salve Reg. Sinners, brethren, if we 
find ourselves debtors to the divine justice, and 
condemned to hell by our sins, let us not despair ; 
let us have recourse to this divine mother ; let us 
put ourselves under her protection, and she will 
save us. But we must have a sincere purpose of 
amending our lives. If we have such a purpose, 
and place confidence in Mary, we shall be saved. 
And why ? Because Mary is a powerful advocate, 
a merciful advocate, an advocate that desires to save 
all 

In the first place, let us consider that Mary is a 
powerful advocate, who can obtain from the Judge 
all graces for her servants. This is a singular privi- 
lege, given to her by the Judge himself, who is her 

salvation, life, aiid resurrection.^ And, on the foundation of 
this doctrine, and inasmuch as they accord with it, I have in- 
tended to lay down my propositions, which the saints, in their 
affectionate colloquies with Mary, and in their fervent dis- 
courses upon her, have not hesitated to assert." — Glories of 
Mary, Monza edition, vol. i. pp. 11, 12. 

In the third chapter of the first volume, (pp. 123, 124,) St. 
Alphonsus compares the hope which we place in the Blessed 
Virgin, to the confidence which a person has in a minister of 
state, whom he asks to procure a favor from his sovereign. 

" Whatsoever Mary obtains for us, she obtains it through 
the merits of Jesus Christ, and because she prays in the name 
of Jesus Christ." — Glories of Mary, vol. i. p. 188. 

" Mary, then, is said to be omnipotent in the manner in 
which omnipotence can be understood of a creature; for a 
creature is incapable of a divine attribute. Thus she is omnip- 
otent, inasmuch as she obtains, by her prayers, whatever she 
asks." — Ibid. p. 223. 

To obtain favors through the intercession of Mary, by prac- 
tising devout exercises in her honor, " the first condition is, 
that we perform our devotions with a soul free from sin, or, at 
least, with a desire to give up sin." "If a person wish to 
commit sin with the hope of being saved by the Blessed Vir- 
gin, he shall thus render him^self unworthy, and incapable of 
her protection." — Glories of Mary, vol. ii. pp. 325, 326. 

27 



314 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Son. ^^ It is a great privilege, that Mary is most 
powerful with her Son." — St. Bonav. in Spec, lect 
vi. John Gerson says (tract, vi. Sup. Magn.) that 
the Blessed Virgin asks nothing from God with an 
absolute will, which she does not obtain ; and that, 
like a queen, she sends the angels to enlighten, to 
purify, and to perfect her servants. Hence, to in- 
spire confidence in this great advocate, the church 
makes us invoke her under the title of Powerful 
Virgin. Powerful Virgin, pray for us. And why 
is the patronage of Mary so powerful ? Because 
she is the mother of God. " The prayer of the di- 
vine mother,'' says St. Antonine, ^' partakes of the 
nature of a command, and therefore it is impossible 
for her not to be heard." — Part iv. tit. 25, cap. 
xvii. sec. 4. The prayers of Mary are the prayers 
of a mother, and are therefore regarded by Jesus 
Christ in a certain manner as commands ; hence it 
is impossible that her petitions should be rejected. 
St. Gregory, archbishop of Nicomedia, says that 
*'the Redeemer, as if to discharge the obligation 
which he owes to his mother for having given to him 
his human nature, hears all her prayers." — Orat. 
de Exitu Mar. Hence St. Theophilus, bishop of 
Alexandria, has written, ** The Son is pleased that 
his mother should pray to him, because he wishes to 
grant her whatsoever she asks, in order to repay 
her for the favor received from her in giving him 
flesh." Hence the martyr Methodius exclaimed, 
** Rejoice, rejoice, O Mary ; you have for a debtor 
your Son. We are all debtors to him ; but he is a 
debtor to thee alone." — Orat. Hyp. Dom. 

Hence Cosmas of Jerusalem says, that ** the inter- 
cession of Mary is omnipotent." Yes, her prayers 
are omnipotent, because, as Richard of St. Law- 
rence says, " it is but just that the mother should 



J 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 315 

partake of the power of the Son. The Son, then, 
who is omnipotent, has made the mother omnipo- 
tent.'' — Lib. iv. de Laud. Virg. The Son is om- 
nipotent by nature; the mother is omnipotent by 
grace — that is, she obtains by her prayers whatso- 
ever she asks. This was revealed to St. Bridget, 
(Rev. lib. i. cap. iv.,) who one day heard Jesus 
Christ addressing his mother in the following 
words: *' Ask from me what you wish; for your pe- 
tition cannot be fruitless." My mother, ask as 
much as you please ; for I shall hear all your 
prayers. He then subjoins the reason : " Because 
you refused me nothing on earth, I will refuse 
nothing to you in heaven.'' You refused me noth- 
ing when I lived on earth ; it is just that I should 
refuse nothing to you now that you are with me in 
h^eaven. 

In fine, there is no sinner, however abandoned, 
whom Mary cannot save by her intercession. 
" You have," says St. Gregory of Nicomedia, 
" insuperable strength, lest the multitude of our sins 
should overcome your clemency. Nothing resists 
your power ; for the Creator regards your glory as 
his own." — Orat. de Exit. B. V. O mother of 
God, nothing can resist your power, since your 
Creator regards your glory as his own. ** Nothing, 
then," says St. Peter Damian, " is impossible to 
you, who can raise even those who are in de- 
spair to hopes of salvation." Serm. i. de Nativ. 
B. V. 

Affections and Prayers. 

My dear queen and mother, Mary, I will address 
thee in the words of St. Germanus. " Thou art 
omnipotent in saving sinners ; thy prayers are all- 
powerful with God, because thou art the mother of 



316 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

true life." — Serm. iii. in Dom. B. V. Then, O 
my mistress, if I have recourse to thee, all my sins 
cannot make me despair of salvation. Thou obtain- 
est by thy prayers whatever thou wishest. If thou 
prayest for me, I shall certainly be saved. I will 
then say to thee with St. Bernard, " Pray for me, 
who am so miserable, O great mother of God ; for 
thy Son hears thee, and grants whatsoever thou 
askest." I am indeed a sinner; but I wish to 
amend my life, and I glory in being specially de- 
voted to thee. I am, it is true, unworthy of thy pro- 
tection ; but I know that thou hast never abandoned 
any one who has placed his trust in thee. Thou 
art able and willing to save me, and I trust in thee. 
When I was in the state of perdition, and forgetful 
of thee, thou didst think of me, and obtained for 
me the grace to enter into myself How much 
more ought I to trust in thy mercy now that I am 
dedicated to thy service, and that I recommend 
myself with confidence to thy prayers ! O Mary, 
pray for me, and obtain for me the grace to be a 
saint. Obtain for me holy perseverance; obtain 
for me a great love of thy Son, and of thee, O 
my amiable mother. I love thee, O my queen, and 
hope to love thee always. Do thou also love me, 
and obtain for me the grace that I may be trans- 
formed from a sinner into a saint. 

SECOND POINT. 

Let us consider, in the second place, that Mary 
is an advocate as merciful as she is powerful, and 
that she knows not how to refuse her protection to 
any soul that has recourse to her. The eyes of the 
Lord, says David, are upon the just ; *' and this 
mother of mercy," says Richard of St. LawTence, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH* 317 

*' keeps her eyes upon the just and upon sinners, 
that she may preserve them from falling into sin, 
or that, should they fall, she may raise them up." 
St. Bonaventure used to say '' that, in looking at 
Mary, he seemed to behold mercy itself" Hence 
St. Bernard exhorts us to recommend ourselves 
with great confidence, in all our necessities, to this 
powerful advocate, '* who is all sweetness and be- 
nignity to those who invoke her intercession." 
*' Nihil austerum in ea, nihil terribile; tota suavis 
est." Hence Mary is called an olive-tree. " As a 
fair olive-tree in the plains." — Eccl. xxiv. 19. As 
from the olive-tree nothing comes forth but oil, the 
symbol of mercy, so from the hands of Mary noth- 
ing flows but the graces and mercies which she dis- 
penses to all who take shelter under her protection. 
Hence Denis the Carthusian has justly called her 
" the advocate of all sinners who have recourse to 
her." O God ! how great shall be the remorse of 
the damned Christian in thinking that, during life, 
he could have saved his soul with so much facility 
by invoking the intercession of this mother of mer- 
cy ; that he had not done so ; and that there shall 
be no more time to do it ! The Blessed Virgin said 
one day to St. Bridget, I am called, and I really 
am, the mother of mercy; for such God has made 
me. '' I am called by all the mother of mercy, and 
truly his mercy has made me merciful." — Rev. 
lib. i. cap. vi. And who, but God in his mercy, 
(because he desires our salvation,) has given us 
this advocate to defend us ? " Therefore," adds 
Mary, ^' miserable shall he be, who, while it is in 
his power, has not recourse to me, who am merci- 
ful." Miserable is the man, and miserable for eter- 
nity, who, though he could, during life, have rec- 
ommended himself to me, who am so benign and 
27* 



318 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

merciful to all, has neglected to have recourse to 
me, and is lost. 

*' Perhaps/' says St. Bonaventure, ** we are afraid 
that, in asking Mary's intercession, she will refuse 
it to us?" ** No," says the saint, *'no; Mary 
does not refuse, and never has refused, pity and aid 
to any sinner who has invoked her intercession. 
She has not done so, and she cannot do so; because 
God has made her the queen and the mother of 
mercy ; and as queen of mercy she is bound to at- 
tend to the care of the miserable." ** You," says 
St. Bernard, *' are the queen of mercy ; and who 
but the miserable are the subjects of mercy?" 
Hence, the saint, through humility, adds, '^ Since, 
then, O mother of God, you are queen of mercy, 
you ought to have a special care of me, who am 
the most miserable of sinners." As mother of mer- 
cy, it is her duty to deliver from death her sick chil- 
dren, to whom her mercy makes her a mother. 
Hence St. Basil calls her " a public hospital." 
Public hospitals are erected for the poor ; and they 
who are in the greatest poverty have the best claims 
to be admitted into them. Hence, according to St. 
Basil, Mary ought to receive with the greatest ten- 
derness and care the greatest sinners who have re- 
course to her. 

But let us not doubt of the mercy of Mary. One 
day St. Bridget heard the Savior saying to his 
mother, "You would show compassion to the devil, 
should he ask it with humility." The haughty Lu- 
cifer will never humble himself to ask her prayers ; 
but if he humbled himself to this divine mother, 
and invoked her help, she, by her intercession, would 
deliver him from hell. By these words, Jesus 
Christ wished to give us to understand what Mary 
herself afterwards said to the same St. Bridget, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 319 

^*^hat when a sinner has lecourse to her, however 
enormous his guilt may be, she regards not the sins 
with which he is charged, but the intention with 
which he comes. If he comes with a sincere desire 
to amend, she receives him and heals all his wounds." 
Hence St. Bonaventure says, " Poor sinners ! do 
not despair ; raise your eyes to Mary, and trust in 
the mercy of this good mother.^' — In Ps. viii. ** Let 
us then," says St. Bernard, ** ask the grace we have 
lost, and let us ask it through Mary." — Serm. de 
Aquaed. ** The grace which we have lost she has 
found," says Richard of St. Lawrence ; '' we there- 
fore ought to go to her in order to recover it." — 
De Laud. Virginis, lib. ii. When the archangel 
Gabriel announced to the most holy Virgin the di- 
vine maternity, he said to her, ** Fear not, Mary, 
thou hast found grace.'' — Luke i. 30. But, since 
Mary was never deprived of grace, but was, on the 
contrary, always full of grace, how could he say that 
she had found it? In answer to this question, Car- 
dinal Hugo says, that Mary found grace, not for 
herself, because she had always possessed it, but for 
us, who have lost it. Hence the same author says, 
that we ought to go to her and say, O lady, property 
ought to be restored to him who has lost it; the 
grace which you have found is not yours, for you 
have always possessed it ; it is ours ; we have lost it 
through our own fault ; you should then restore it 
to us. '* Let sinners, then, who have lost grace by 
their sins, run, let them run to the Virgin, and say 
with confidence, Restore to us our property, which 
you have found." 

Affections and Prayers. 
Behold, O great mother of God, at your feet a 
miserable sinner, who has not once, but several 



320 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

times, voluntarily lost the divine grace, which ihy 
Son had purchased for him by his death. O mother 
of mercy, I come to thee with a soul covered with 
wounds and sores; be not angry with me on that 
account, but have the greater pity on me, and assist 
me. I do not ask of thee earthly goods ; I ask thee 
to obtain for me the grace of God and the love of 
thy Son. My mother, pray for me, and never cease 
to pray for me. It is through the merits of Jesus 
Christ and thy intercession that I am to be saved. 
Thy office is to intercede for sinners ; I will then say 
with St. Thomas of Villanova, *' Fulfil thy office; 
recommend me to God, and defend me." No cause, 
however desperate, is lost when defended by thee. 
Thou, after Jesus, art the hope of sinners ; thou 
art my hope. O Mary, I will not cease to serve 
thee, to love thee, and to have recourse to thee 
always. Do not, then, ever cease to pray for me, 
particularly when thou seest me in danger of again 
losmg the grace of God. O Mary, O great mother 
of God, have pity on me. 

THIRD POINT. 

Let us consider, in the third place, that Mary is 
so merciful an advocate, that she not only assists 
all who have recourse to her, but also goes in search 
of the miserable, in order to defend and save them. 
Behold how she invites us all, and encourages us to 
hope for every good, if we have recourse to her. 
*' In me is all hope of life and virtue. Come over 
to me, all." — Eccl. xxiv. 25, 26. In explaining 
this passage, the devout Pelbart says, " She invites 
all, the just and sinners." The devil, according to 
St. Peter, goes about continually seeking whom he 
may devour. — 1 Peter v. 8. " But this divine 



( 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 321 

mother," says Bernard da Bustis, " goes about seek- 
ing whom she may save." — Marial, part iii. serm. 
iii. Mary is called the mother of mercy ; because, 
like a mother, she cannot see her children in danger 
of being lost without giving them assistance. Mary 
pities all our miseries, and constantly seeks our sal- 
vation. ** And," says St. Germanus, " who, after 
Jesus, has greater care of our salvation than you, 
O mother of mercy ? " — Serm. de Zona Virg. St. 
Bonaventure says, ** that Mary is so solicitous about 
the relief of the miserable, that she appears to desire 
nothing with greater ardor than to comfort them." 
— Super. Salv. Reg. 

'' She certainly assists us as often as we have re- 
course to her; no one has ever been rejected by 
her," says the Idiota. — Praef in Cantic. ^' But 
this," adds Richard of St. Victor, " is not enough 
for her ; she anticipates our supplications, and ob- 
tains aid for us before we ask her prayers." — In 
Cant. cap. xxiii. Moreover, the same author says, 
that Mary is so full of mercy, that, as soon as she 
sees misery, she instantly obtains relief, and cannot 
behold any one in distress without coming to his 
assistance. It was thus she acted when she lived 
on this earth, as we learn from what happened at the 
marriage of Cana in Galilee ; where, w^hen the wine 
failed, she did not wait to be asked, but, taking 
pity on the affliction and shame of the spouses, 
asked her Son to console them, saying, *' They have 
no wine." Thus she induced him to change, by a 
miracle, water into wine. " But," says St. Bona- 
venture, *' if Mary's compassion for the afflicted was 
so great while she was in this world, her pity for us 
is certainly much greater now that she is in heaven, 
where she has a better knowledge of our miseries, 
and greater compassion for us." — In Spect. B. V. 



322 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

cap. viii. Novarino adds, *' If Mary, unasked, shows 
such readiness to afford relief, how much more 
careful will she be to console those who ask her 
prayers ! " 

" Ah! let us never cease to have recourse, in all 
our necessities, to the divine mother, who is always 
ready to obtain relief for all who pray to her,'^ says 
Richard of St. Lawrence. And Bernardine da 
Bustis adds, " that she desires more ardently to ob- 
tain graces for us, than we do to receive them." — 
Marial, i. serm. v. de Nom. Mar. Hence he sasy 
that, " whenever we have recourse to her, we shall 
always find her hands full of graces and mercies." 
According to St. Bonaventure, Mary's desire for 
our welfare and salvation is so great, that she feels 
offended, not only with those who do her a positive 
injury, but also with those who neglect to ask favors 
from her. — S. Bon., Spec. Virg. And, on the oth- 
er hand, the saint affirms that they who invoke 
Mary's intercession (that is, with a determination to 
amend their lives) are saved. Hence he calls her 
** the salvation of those who invoke her." Let us, 
then, always have recourse to the divine mother, 
and always say to her with the holy doctor, In 
thee, O lady, have I hoped; may I not be confound- 
ed forever. No, O lady, O mother of God, O 
Mary, I shall not be lost after having placed my 
hopes in thee after Jesus. 

Affections and Prayers. 

O Mary, behold at thy feet a miserable slave of 
hell, who implores thy mercy. I, indeed, deserve 
no good ; but thou art the mother of mercy, and 
mercy is exercised in favor of those who are unwor- 
thy of it. The whole world calleth thee the refuge 
and the hope of sinners ; then thou art my refuge 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 323 

and my hope. I am a lost sheep ; but, to save the 
lost sheep, the Eternal Word came down from heav- 
en, and became thy Son; he wishes that I have 
recourse to thee, and that thou assist me by thy 
prayers. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, 
sinners, O great mother of God, thou prayest for 
all ; pray to thy Son also for me ; tell him that I 
am thy client, and that thou art my protectress ; 
tell him that in thee, after him, I have placed all 
my hopes ; tell him to pardon me, that I repent of 
all the insults I have offered to him ; tell him to 
grant me in his mercy holy perseverance ; tell him 
to grant me the grace to love him with my whole 
heart. In fine, tell him to save me. He does 
whatsoever thou askest. O Mary, my hope, in thee 
I trust ; have pity on me. 



THIRTY-THIRD CONSIDERATION. 



ON THE LOVE OF GOD. 

' Let us therefore love God, because God hath first loved us," 
— 1 John iv. 19. 



FIRST POINT. 

Consider, in the first place, that God deserves 
your love, because he has loved you before you loved 
him, and because he has been the first of all to 
love you.' **Ihave loved thee with an everlasting 
love." — Jer. xxxi. 3. Your parents have been the 
first to love you on this earth ; but they have loved 
you only after they have known you. Before your 
father or your mother came into this world, God 



324 PHEPARATION FOR DEATH. 

loved you ; even before the world was created, he 
loved you. And how long before the creation of 
the world did God love you ? Perhaps a thousand 
years, or a thousand ages? It is useless to count 
years or ages; God has loved you from eternity. 
*' I have loved thee with an everlasting love; there- 
fore have I drawn thee, taking pity on thee." — Jer. 
xxxi. 3. In a word, as long as he has been God, 
he has loved you ; as long as he has loved himself, 
he has loved you. Hence the holy virgin St. Agnes 
had reason to say, **/ am prevented by another 
lover J ^ When the world and creatures sought her 
love, she answered, '' No, I cannot love you. 
My God has been the first to love me; it is but 
just, then, that I should consecrate all my love to 
him alone." 

Thus, my brother, God has loved you from eter- 
nity, and through pure love has taken you from 
among so many men whom he could create ; he has 
given you existence, and has placed you in the 
world. For the love of you, God has created so 
many other beautiful creatures, that they might 
serve you, and remind you of the love which he has 
borne to you, and of the love which you owe to 
him. " Heaven and earth," says St. Augustine, 
'* tell me to love you." When the saint looked at 
the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the 
rivers, they appeared to him to speak, and say, 
Augustine, love your God; for he has created us 
for you, that you might love him. The abbot De 
Ranee, founder of La Trappe, when he saw a hill, a 
fountain, or a flower, would say that all these crea- 
tures upbraided him with ingratitude to God. In 
holding a flower or a fruit in her hand, St. Mary 
Magdalene de Pazzi felt her heart wounded as it 
were by a dart of divine love, and would say within 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 325 

herself^ *'Then, my God has from eternity thought 
of creating this flower or fruit, that I might love 
him/' 

Consider, moreover, the special love God has 
shown to you in making you be born in a Christian 
country, and in the bosom of the true church. 
How many are born among idolaters, Jews, Ma- 
hometans, or heretics, and are all lost ! The num- 
ber of those who have the happiness of being born 
in a country where the true faith prevails, is 
small, compared with the rest of mankind, and he 
has chosen you to be one of that small number. O, 
what an infinite gift is the gift of faith ! How many 
millions are deprived of the sacraments, of sermons, 
of the examples of good companions, and of all the 
other helps to salvation which are found in the true 
church ! And God has resolved to give all these 
great helps to you without any merit on your part, 
and even with a foreknowledge of your demerits; 
for when he thought of creating you, and bestowing 
these graces upon you, he foresaw the insults which 
you would offer to him. 

Affections and Prayers. 

O Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, infinite 
good, infinite majesty, who hast loved men so ten- 
derly, how does it happen that thou art so much de- 
spised by them ? But, among these men, thou, O 
my God, hast loved me in a particular manner, and 
hast bestowed on me special graces, which thou 
hast not given to so many others. And I have de- 
spised thee more than others. I prostrate myself at 
thy feet. O Jesus, my Savior, ** cast me not away 
from thy face." I would deserve to be cast off on 
account of my frequent ingratitude to thee. But 
thou hast said that thou wilt not reject a penitent 
28 



326 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

feoul that returns to thee. " Him that Cometh to 
me, I will not cast out." — John vi. 37. My Jesus, 
I am sorry for having offended thee. Hitherto I 
have not known thee. I now acknowledge thee 
for my Lord and Redeemer, who hast died in order 
to save me and to be loved by me. When, O my 
Jesus, shall I cease to be ungrateful to thee 1 
When shall I begin truly to love thee with a true 
love ? Behold, I this day resolve to love thee with 
my whole heart, and to love nothing but thee. O 
infinite Goodness, I adore thee for all those who do 
not adore thee, and I love thee for all who do not 
love thee. I believe in thee, I hope in thee, I love 
thee, and offer my whole being to thee. Assist me 
by thy grace ; thou know^est my weakness. But if 
thou didst bestow so many graces upon me when I 
neither loved nor desired to love thee, how much 
greater graces should I hope for from thy mercy 
now that I love thee and desire only to love thee ! 
My Lord, give me thy love, but a fervent love, 
which shall make me forget all creatures ; a strong 
love, which shall make me conquer all difficulties 
in order to please thee ; a perpetual love, which 
shall never be dissolved between me and thee. I 
hope for all graces through thy merits, O my Jesus; 
and I hope for them through thy intercession, O my 
mother, Mary. 

SECOND POINT. 

But God has not only given us so many beautiful 
creatures — he was not content until he even gave 
up himself *' He loved us and delivered himself up 
for us." — Gal. ii. 20. Accursed sin had robbed 
us of the divine grace, and made us the slaves of 
hell ; but, ^to the astonishment of heaven and of all 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 327 

nature, the Son of God came oa earth to become 
man in order to redeem us from eternal death, and 
to purchase for us the grace and the eternal glory 
which we had lost. How great should be our won- 
der if we saw a monarch become a worm for the 
love of worms ! But our astonishment should be 
infinitely greater at the sight of a God made man 
for the love of men. " He emptied himself, taking 
the form of a servant, .... and in habit found as 
man." — Phil. ii. 7. A God clothed in flesh! 
*^ And the word was made flesh." — John i. 14. 
But the astonishment increases when we see all that 
this Son of God has done and suffered for the love 
of us. To redeem us it would be sufficient for him 
to have shed a single drop of his blood, or a single 
tear, or to have offered a single prayer ; for a prayer 
offered by a divine person should be of infinite 
value, and therefore sufficient for the salvation of 
the whole world, and of an infinite number of worlds. 
But, says St. Chrysostom, what was sufficient for 
redemption was not sufficient for the immense love 
which this God bore to us. ''Quod sufficiebat re- 
demptioni non sufficiebat amori," He not only 
wished to save us, but, because he loved us ardent- 
ly, he wished to be loved ardently by us ; and there- 
fore he resolved to lead a life full of sorrows and 
humiliations, and to suffer a death the most painful 
of all deaths, in order to make us understand the 
infinite love which he entertained for us. ^^ He 
humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, 
even to the death of the cross." — Phil. ii. 8. O 
excess of divine love, which all men and all angels 
shall never be able to comprehend ! I say, excess ; 
for Moses and Elias, speaking of the passion of 
Jesus Christ, called it an excess. — Luke ix. 31. 
Sl Bonaventure called the passion of Christ an ex- 



328 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

cess of sorrow and of love. '* Excessus doloris, exces* 
sus amorisJ' If our Redeemer had not been God, 
but a friend or a relative, M^hat greater proof of love 
could he have given, than to die for us ? " Greater 
love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his 
life for his friends." — John xv. 13. If Jesus Christ 
had to save his own Father, he could not have done 
more for the love of him \ If, my brother, you had 
been God and the creator of Jesus Christ, what 
more could he have done for you than sacrifice his 
life in the midst of a sea of torments and sorrows, 
for the love of you? If the most contemptible man 
on earth had done for you what Jesus Christ has 
done for you, could you live without loving him? 

But what do you say ? Do you believe in the incar- 
nation and death of Jesus Christ ? You believe these 
mysteries ; and do you not love him ? or can you 
think of loving any thing but Jesus Christ I *' He," 
says St. Augustine, " has come on earth to suffer 
and to die for you in order to make known to you 
the immense love which he bears you." Propterea 
Christus advenit ut cognosceret homo quantum 
eum diligat Deus. Before the incarnation, man 
might doubt whether God loved him tenderly ; but 
how, after the incarnation and death of Jesus 
Christ, can he any longer doubt that God loves him 
with the most tender love ? And what greater ten- 
derness of affection could he show you, than to 
sacrifice his divine love for the love of you ? Our 
ears are accustomed to hear of creation, of redemp- 
tion, of a God in a manger, of a God on a cross. 
O holy faith, enlighten us. 

Affections and Prayers. 

O my Jesus, I see that thou couldst have done 
nothing more in order to compel me to love thee ; 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 329 

and I also see that b) my ingratitude I have labored 
to force thee to abandon me. Blessed forever be 
thy patience, which has borne with me so long. I 
would deserve a hell made on purpose for myself; 
but thy death gives me confidence. Ah ! make me 
understand well the claims which thou, O infinite 
Good, hast to my love, and the obligations by which 
I am bound to love thee. I knew, O my Jesus, 
that thou hast died for me ; how then, O God, have 
I been able to live for so many years in forgetful- 
ness of thee? O that the past years of my life 
commenced again ! I would wish, O my Lord, to 
give them all to thee. But years do not return. 
Ah ! grant that I may at least spend all the remain- 
ing days of my life in loving and pleasing thee. 
My dear Redeemer, I love thee with my whole heart ; 
but increase this love within me. Remind me 
always of all that thou hast done for me, and do 
not permit me to be any longer ungrateful to thee. 
No; I will no longer resist the lights thou hast given 
me. Thou wishest to be loved by me, and I desire 
to love thee. And whom will I love, if I do not 
love a God of infinite beauty and infinite goodness? 
a God who has died for me? a God who has borne 
me with so much patience, and who, instead of 
chastising me as I deserved, has changed chastise- 
ments into graces and favors? Yes, I love thee, 
O God worthy of infinite love, and I sigh and seek 
to live wholly employed in loving thee, and forgetful 
of every thing but thee. O infinite charity of my 
Lord, assist a soul that ardently desires to be en- 
tirely thine. O great mother of God, Mary, do 
thou too assist me by thy intercession ; beg of Jesus 
to make me belong entirely to him. 
28* 



330 PREPARATION FOR DEATfc. 



THIRD POINT. 

Our astonishment increases when we consider 
the ardor with which Jesus Christ desired to suffer 
and die for the love of us. " I have a baptism," 
said Jesus Christ, *• wherewith I am to be baptized ; 
and how am I straitened until it be accomplished !" 
— Lukexii, 50. I am to be baptized with the bap- 
tism of my own blood ; and I feel myself dying 
through a desire that my passion and death may 
soon come, that thus man may soon know the love 
which I bear to him. It was this desire that made 
him say on the night before his passion, '* With 
desire have I desired to eat this pasch with you be- 
fore I suffer.'* — Luke xxii. 15. Then, says St. 
Basil of Seleucia, it appears that our God cannot be 
satiated with loving men. '* Hominum amore nequit 
expleri Deus.*' — S. Bas. cap. 416. 

Ah, my Jesus ! men do not love you because they 
do not think of the love which you have had for them. 
O God 1 how is it possible for a soul to live without 
loving God, if she considers that he died for her 
sake, and that he died with so great a desire of 
showing his love for her ? '' The charity of Christ 
presseth us.'* — 2 Cor. v. 14. St. Paul says that it 
is not so much w^hat Jesus Christ has done and 
suffered for our salvation, as the love which he has 
displayed in suffering for us, that obliges, and, as it 
were, forces us to love him. Contemplating the 
love which Jesus Christ exhibits in his passion, St. 
Lawrence Justinian exclaimed, *' Vidimus sapientem 
prae nimietate amoris infatuatum.'* We have seen 
a God as it were fooli&h, through the excess of his 
love for us. And who could ever believe, had not 
faith assured us of it, that the Creator would die 
for his own creatures? In an ecstasy, St. Mary 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 331 

Magdalene de Pazzi, carrying a crucifix in her hands, 
exclaimed, ** Yes, my Jesus, you are foolish through 
loveV This the Gentiles also said when they heard 
the apostles preaching the death of Jesus Clirist ; 
they, as St. Paul attests, regarded it as folly which 
could not be believed. ** We preach Christ cruci- 
fied, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling-block, and 
unto the Gentiles foolishness." — 1 Cor. i. 23. And 
how, said they, could a God that is most happy in 
himself, and stands not in need of any one, descend 
on earth, to become man, and die for the love of 
men, who are his creatures ? This would be the 
same as to believe that a God had become foolish 
for the sake of men. But it is of faith that Jesus 
Christ, the true Son of God, has delivered himself 
to death for the love of us. *' Christ hath loved us, 
and hath delivered himself for us.'' — Eph. v. ^. 

And why has he done so ? He has done so that 
we might live no longer to the world, but only to 
that Lord who has died for us. ** Christ died for 
all, that they also who live may not live to them- 
selves, but unto him who died for them." — 2 Cor. 
V. 15. He has done it that, by the love which he 
has shown us, he might win all the affections of our 
hearts. ** For to this end Christ died and rose 
again, that he might be the Lord both of the dead 
and of the living." — Rom. xiv. 9. Hence the saints, 
contemplating the death of Jesus Christ, thought it 
very little to give their life and all things Tor the 
love of so loving a God. How many noblemen, 
how many princes, have left relatives, riches, coun- 
try, and even kingdoms, to shut themselves up in a 
cloister, in order to live only to the love of Jesus 
Christ! How many martyrs have sacrificed their 
life ! how many tender virgins, renouncing the nup- 
tials of the great, have gone with joy to death, in 



333 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

order thus to make some return for the affection of 
a God who had died for their sake ! And, my 
brother, what have you hitherto done for the sake 
of Jesus Christ ? As he has died for the saints, 
for St. Lawrence, for St. Lucy, for St. Agnes, so 
be has also died for you. What do you intend to 
do during the remaining days of life, which God 
gives you that you may love him ? From this day 
forward, look frequently at the crucifix, and, in look- 
ing at it, call to mind the love which Jesus Christ 
has borne you, and say within yourself, " Then 
have you, my God, died for me ? " Do this at least, 
I say, and do it often ; if you do, you cannot but 
feel yourself sweetly constrained to love a God who 
has loved you so tenderly. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my dear Redeemer, it is true that I have not 
loved thee, because I have not reflected on the love 
which thou hast borne me ! Ah, my Jesus, I have 
been very ungrateful to thee ! Thou hast given thy 
life for me, by submitting to the most painful of all 
deaths ; and have I been so ungrateful as not even 
to think of thy sufferings ? Pardon me ; I promise, 
O my crucified Love, that from this day forward thou 
shalt be the only object of my thoughts and of all 
my affections! Ah, when the devil or the world 
presents me a forbidden apple, remind me, O my 
beloved Savior, of the pains which thou hast en- 
dured for my sake, that I may love thee, and may 
never more offend thee ! Ah ! if one of my Ser- 
jeants had done for me what thou hast done, I could 
aot bring myself to displease him. And I have dared 
io turn my back so often on thee, who hast died for 
me. O beautiful flames, which have obliged a God 
to give his life for me, come, inflame, fill my whole 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 333 

heart, and destroy all affections to created things. 
Ah, my beloved Redeemer, how is it possible for 
rae to contemplate thee, either in the manger in 
Bethlehem, on the cross on Calvary, or in the 
sacrament on our altars, and not be enamored of 
thee ? My Jesus, I love thee with my whole soul. 
During the remaining years of my life, thou shalt be 
my only good, my only love. I have unhappily lived 
long enough forgetful of thy passion and of thy 
love. I give thee all things, and if I do not give 
myself to thee as I ought, take me, and reign in 
my whole heart. ** Thy kingdom corned May my 
heart be the servant only of thy love. May I speak 
of nothing else, may I treat of nothing else, may I 
think of nothing else, may I sigh and desire only to 
love and please thee. Assist me always by thy 
grace, that I may be faithful to thee. In thy merits 
I trust, O my Jesus. O mother of fair love, make 
me ardently love thy Son, who is so amiable, and 
who has loved me so tenderly. 



THIRTY-FOURTH CONSIDERATION. 

ON THE HOLY COMMUNION. 

"Take ye, and eat: this is my body." — Matt. xxvi. 26. 

FIRST POINT. 

Let us consider the great gift which Jesus Christ 
has bestowed on us in the institution of the most 
holy sacrament ; the great love he has shown to us 
in this gift ; and his great desire that we should 



334 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

receive this gift. Let us, in the first place, consider 
the great gift which Jesus Christ has bestowed 
upon us in giving us himself entirely for our food 
in the holy communion. St. Augustine says that 
Jesus Christ, though an omnipotent God, has noth- 
ing more to give us. *' Cum esset omnipotens, 
plus dare non potuit." And what greater treasure, 
adds St. Bernardine of Sienna, can a soul receive 
or desire, than the sacred body of Jesus Christ? 
*' duis melior thesaurus in corde hominis esse po- 
test, quam corpus Christi?" The prophet Isaias 
exclaims, O men, proclaim aloud the loving in- 
ventions of our good God. — Isa. xii. 4. And if 
our Redeemer had not bestowed this gift upon us, 
who among us could have asked it? Who could 
have dared to say to him. Lord, if you wish to 
make us understand your love, remain under the 
species of bread, and permit us to make you our 
food ? Even to think of it would be considered 
folly. " Does it not," says St. Augustine, '* appear 
foolishness to say. Eat my flesh — drink my blood'*? 
When Jesus Christ made known to his disciples 
this great gift of the most holy sacrament w^hich he 
wished to leave us, they could not bring themselves 
to believe it ; and, therefore, they departed from 
him, saying, '' How can this man give us his flesh 
to eat? .... This saying is hard, and who can 
hear it?" — St. John vi. 53, 61. But what men 
could never imagine, the great love of Jesus Christ 
has invented and executed. 

St. Bernardine says that the Lord has left us this 
sacrament as a memorial of the love he has shown 
us in his passion — *' Hoc sacramentum est merao- 
riale suae dilectionis." And this accords with what 
Jesus Christ himself has said — '^ Do this for a 
commemoration of rne.'' — Luke xxii. 19. The 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 335 

love of our Savior, adds St. Bernardine, was not 
content with sacrificing his life for our salvation ; 
before his death, this love constrained him to be- 
queath to us the greatest gift which he had ever 
bestowed upon us, by giving us himself for our food. 
** In illo fervoris excessu quando paratus erat pro 
nobis niori, ab excessu amoris majus opus agere 
coactus est, quam unquam operatus fuerat, dare 
nobis corpus in cibum." — S. Ber. Sen., tom. ii. 
serm. liv. cap. i. The abbot Gaerric says that, in 
this sacrament, Jesus made the last effort of love. 
** Omnem vim amoris effudit amicis." — Serm. v. 
de Ascens. This was better expressed by the 
Council of Trent, which declared that, in the eu- 
charist, Jesus poured out all the riches of his love 
for men. " Divitias sui erga homines amoris velut 
effudit." — Sess. xiii. cap. ii. 

How great, says St. Francis de Sales, the tender- 
ness of love which a prince would show to a beggar 
by sending him a part of what he had on his own 
plate ! How much greater should it be, if he sent 
him the entire of his own dinner ! But what w^ould 
it be, if he sent him, for his food, a part of his own 
arm ! In the holy communion, Jesus gives us not 
only a portion of his own dinner, not only a part, 
but the entire of his body. " Take ye, and eat ; 
this is my body." And with his body he gives 
us his soul and his divinity. In a word, St. Chrys- 
ostom says that, in giving you himself in the holy 
communion, he gives you all that he has, and re- 
serves nothing for himself *' Totum tibi dedit, 
nihil sibi reliquit." And the angelic doctor says 
that, *• in the eucharist, God has given us all that he 
is and has." Behold ! exclaims St. Bonaventure, 
that God whom the world cannot contain, makes 
himself our prisoner in the most holy sacrament 



336 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

*' Ecce quern mundus capere non potest, captivus 
noster est." And since the Lord gives himself en- 
tirely to us in the eucharist, how can we fear that 
he should refuse us any grace which we ask of him? 
** How/' says St. Paul, ** hath he not also, with him, 
given us all things ? " — Rom. viii. 32. 

Affections and Prayers. 

O my Jesus, what has induced thee to give thy- 
self entirely to us for our food? After this gif% 
what more remains for thee to give us in order to 
oblige us to love thee? Ah, Lord, give us light, 
make us understand the excess of thy love in be- 
coming food in order to unite thyself to poor sin- 
ners ! But, if thou givest thyself entirely to us, it 
is just that we too give our whole being to thee. O 
my Redeemer, how have I been able to offend thee, 
who hast loved me so tenderly, and who hast done 
80 much to gain my love? Thou hast become 
man for my sake, thou hast died for me, thou hast 
become my food; tell me, what more couldst thou 
have done ? I love thee, O infinite Goodness ; I 
love thee, O infinite Love. Lord, come often to my 
soul ; inflame my whole heart with thy holy love ; 
grant that I may forget all things in order to think 
only of thee, and to love nothing but thee. Most 
holy Mary, pray for me, and by thy intercession 
make me worthy to receive thy Son frequently in 
the holy sacrament. 

SECOND POINT. 

Let us consider, in the second place, the great 
love which Jesus Christ has shown us in giving us 
himself in the holy eucharist. The most holy sac- 
rament is a gift which has proceeded from pure love. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 337 

For our salvation it was necessary, according to the 
decree of God, that the Redeemer should die, and, 
by the sacrifice of his life, satisfy the divine justice 
for our sins ; but what necessity was there that Je- 
sus Christ, after having died for our redemption, 
should leave himself to us for our food ? But this 
his love wished to do. He, says St. Lawrence Jus- 
tinian, instituted the eucharist for no other purpose 
than to show his great charity, (*' ob suae eximisB 
charitatis indicium,") for no other purpose than to 
make us understand the immense love which he 
bears us. This is precisely what St. John has 
written — '* Jesus knowing that his hour was come, 
that he should pass out of this world to the Father; 
having loved his own, he loved them to the end." — 
St. John xiii. 1. Knowing that the time of his de- 
parture from this earth had arrived, he wished to 
give us the greatest proof of his love, by bequeath- 
ing to us this gift of the most holy sacrament. This 
is the precise meaning of the words, he loved them 
to the end; that is, according to Theophilactus and 
St. Chrysostom, ** he loved them with an extreme 
love.'' 

And mark what the apostle has observed — that 
the time at which Jesus Christ wished to bequeath 
this gift, was the time of his death. '' The Lord 
Jesus, the same night on which he was betrayed, 
took bread, and, giving thanks, broke, and said, 
Take ye, and eat; this is my body." — 1 Cor. xi. 
23, 24. At the very time that men prepared for 
him scourges, thorns, and a cross to crucify him, 
the loving Savior wished to leave us this the last 
proof of his love. And why at death, and not be- 
fore that time, has he instituted this sacrament? 
Because, says St. Bernardine, the marks of love 
given by friends at death make a greater impression 
29 



338 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

on the memory, and are preserved with greater af- 
fection, ^'duae in fine in signum amicitiae cele- 
brantur, firmius memoriae imprimuntur, et cariora 
tenentur." Jesus Christ, says the saint, had already 
given himself to us in many ways ; he had given 
himself to us for a companion, a master, a father; 
for our light and our victim. The last degree of 
love remained ; and this was, to give himself to us 
for our food, in order tounite himself entirely to us, 
as food is united to him who eats it. This he has 
done by giving himself to us in the most holy sac- 
rament. ** Ultimus gradus amoris est, cum se dedit 
nobis cibum, quia se dedit ad omnimodam unionem, 
sicut cibus et cibans invicem uniuntur/' Thus 
our Redeemer was not content with uniting himself 
only with our human nature ; he wished by this sac- 
rament to find a means of also uniting himself with 
each of us in particular. 

St. Francis de Sales says, *'that in no other ac- 
tion can the Savior be considered more tender or 
more loving than in the institution of the holy eu- 
charist ; in which he, as it were, annihilates himself, 
and becomes food, in order to penetrate our souls, 
and to unite himself to the hearts of his faithful 
servants." Thus, says St. Chrysostom, to that 
Lord on whom the angels dare not fix their eyes, 
we are united, and are made one body and one flesh. 
** Huic nos unimur, et facti sumus unum corpus et 
una caro." What shepherd, adds the saint, has ever 
fed his sheep with his own blood ? Even mothers 
intrust their children to the care of nurses. But 
Jesus, in the sacrament, nourishes us with his own 
blood, and unites us to himself '^Quis pastor oves 
proprio pascit cruore ? Et quid dico pastor? 
Matres multae sunt, quae filios aliis tradunt nutrici- 
bus: hoc autem ipse non est passus, sed ipse nos 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 339 

proprio sanguine pascit." — Horn. Ix. And why 
become our food ? Because, says the saint, he loved 
us ardently, and by making himself our food, he 
wished to unite himself entirely to us, and to make 
himself one thing with us. *'Semetipsum nobis 
immiscuit, ut unum quid simus: ardenter enim 
araantium hoc est." — Horn. li. Then Jesus Christ 
wished to perform the greatest of his miracles, (" He 
hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works; 
he hath given food to them that fear him." — Ps. ex. 
4,) in order to satisfy his desire of remaining wdth 
us, and of uniting in one our heart and his own most 
holy heart, *' O, wonderful is your love, O Lord 
Jesus," exclaims St. Lawrence Justinian, *' who 
wished to incorporate us in such a manner with your- 
self, that we should have one heart and one soul in- 
separably united with you." 

That great servant of God, Father Delia Colum- 
biere, used to say. If any thing could shake my 
faith in the mystery of the eucharist, I would not 
doubt of the powder, but rather of the love, which 
God displays in this sacrament. If you ask me how 
bread becomes the body of Jesus, how Jesus is 
found in many places, I answer that God can do all 
things. But if you ask me how it is that God loves 
men so as to make himself their food, I can only 
say that I do not understand it, and that the love 
of Jesus cannot be comprehended. But, O Lord, 
to reduce yourself to the condition of food, appears 
to be an excess of love not suited to your majesty. 
But St. Bernard's answer is, that love makes lovers 
forget their own dignity. *^ Amor nescius digni- 
tatis." St. Chrysostom also answers, that love 
seeks not what is convenient when there is question 
of making itself known to the beloved; it goes not 
whei« it ought, but where it is carried by the ardor 



340 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

of its desire. " Amor ratione caret, et vadit quo 
ducitur, non quo debeat." — Serm. cxlv. Justly, 
then, has the angelic doctor called this sacrament 
a sacrament of love — a pledge of love. ** Sacra- 
mentum charitatis, charitatis pignus/' — Opusc. 
68. And St. Bernard calls it love of loves. 
" Amor amorum." St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi 
used to call Holy Thursday, the day on which this 
sacrament was instituted, the day of love. 

Affections and Prayers. 

O infinite love of Jesus, worthy of infinite love ! 
Ah, my Jesus, when shall I love thee as thou hast 
loved me ? Thou couldst do nothing more to make 
me love thee ; and I have forsaken thee, O infinite 
Good, for the sake of vile and miserable goods ! Ah, 
enlighten me, O my God ! Discover to me always 
more and more the greatness of thy goodness, that 
my whole soul may be enamored of thee, and that I 
may labor to please thee. I love thee, O my Jesus, 
my love, my all ; and I wdsh to unite myself fre- 
quently with thee in this sacrament, in order to de- 
tach myself from all things, and to love thee alone, 
who art my life. Through the merits of thy passion, 
assist me, O my Redeemer. O mother of Jesus^ 
and my mother, do thou too assist me; beg of him to 
inflame my whole heart with his holy love. 

THIRD POINT. 

Let us, in the third place, consider the great ar- 
dor with which Jesus Christ desires that we should 
receive him in the holy communion. ** Jesus 
knowing that his hour was come." — John xiii. 1. 
But how could Jesus call the night on v/hich his 
bitter passion should commence, his hour? He 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 341 

calls k his hour, because on that night he was to 
instit ate this divine sacrament in order to unite him- 
self entirely to his beloved souls. This desire made 
him say, ^* With desire I have desired to eat this 
pasch with you." — Luke xxii. 15. Words by 
which the Redeemer wished to show us the great 
ardor with which he desired to unite himself with 
each of us in this sacrament. With desire I have 
desired. Words which, according to St. Lawrence 
Justinian, proceeded from his immense love for us. 
/^Flagrantissimae charitatis est vox hsec." This is 
the language of the most burning love. The Re- 
deemer wished to give himself to us under the 
appearance of bread, that all might be able to re- 
ceive him. Had he given himself to us under the 
appearance of costly food, the poor should not be 
able to receive him ; and had he instituted the holy 
sacrament under the appearance of any other cheap 
food, this, perhaps, should not be found in all parts 
of the world. Jesus wished to leave himself under 
the species of bread, because it costs but little, and 
is found in every country ; so that all persons in all 
places may find him and receive him. 

Through his great desire that we should receive 
him, the Redeemer not only presses us to receive 
him by so many invitations — ''Come, eat my 
bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for 
you," (Prov. ix. 5;) *' Eat, O friends, and drink, 
and be inebriated, my dearly beloved," (Cant. v. 
1,) but he also commands us to receive him. 
*' Take ye, and eat; this is my body." — Matt, 
xxvi. 26. Moreover, he endeavors to allure us to 
the holy table by promises of eternal life. *'He 
that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath 
life everlasting." — John vi. 55. "He that eateth 
this bread shall live forever." — Ibid. ver. 59. He 
29* 



342 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

also threatens to exclude from paradise all who 
neglect to receive him in the holy sacrament. 
'* Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and 
drink his blood, you shall not have life in you." — 
Ibid. ver. 53. These invitations, promises, and 
threats, all proceed from the ardent desire of Jesus 
Christ to unite himself with us in this sacrament. 
And this desire springs from the great love which 
he bears us ; for, as St. Francis de Sales says, the 
end of love is nothing else than to be united with 
the object of love. And because in this sacrament 
Jesus unites himself entirely to the soul — '* He 
that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, 
abideth in me and I in him," (John vi. 57,) — 
therefore he desires so ardently that we receive 
him. Our Lord said one day to St. Matilda, "The 
bee does not cast itself on the flower from which it 
sucks the honey, with as much ardor as I come to 
the soul that desires to receive me." 

O, if the faithful understood the great blessing 
which the holy communion brings to the soul ! 
Jesus is the Lord of all riches ; for his Father has 
made him master of all things. " Knowing that 
the Father had given him all things into his hands." 
— John xiii. 3. Hence, when Jesus Christ comes 
to a soul in the holy communion, he brings with 
him immense treasures of graces. *^ Now all good 
things," says Solomon, speaking of the eternal 
wisdom, '* came to me together with her." — Wis. 
vii. IL 

St. Denis says that the most holy sacrament has 
the greatest efficacy in sanctifying the soul. *' Eu- 
charistia maximam vim habet perficiendse sancti- 
tatis." And St. Vincent Ferror asserts that the 
soul derives greater profit from one communion^ 
than from fasting for a week on bread and water 



( 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 343 

The communion, as the Council of Trent teaches, 
is that great remedy which delivers us from venial, 
and preserves us from mortal sins. " Antidotum 
quo a culpis quotidianis liberemur et a mortalibus 
preservemur." — Sess. xiii. cap. ii. Hence St. 
Ignatius, martyr, has called the most holy sacra- 
ment 4he medicine of immortality. *'Pharmacum 
immortalitatis." Innocent the Third has said that, 
by his passion, Jesus Christ has delivered us from 
the punishment of sin ; but, by the eucharist, he 
preserves us from the commission of sin. '^ Per 
crucis mysterium liber avit nos a potestate peccati, 
per eucharistise sacramentum liberat nos a potestate 
peccandi." 

Moreover, this sacrament kindles the fire of di- 
vine love. ** He brought me into the cellar of wine ; 
he set in order charity in me. Stay me up with 
flowers, compass me about with apples; because I 
languish with love.'' — Cant. ii. 4, 5. St. Gregory 
of Nyssa says, that the holy communion is this 
cellar of wine ; in which the soul is so inebriated 
with divine love, that she forgets the earth and all 
creatures; it is thus the soul languishes with holy 
charity. The venerable Father Francis Olympius, 
of the order of Theatines, used to say, that there 
is nothing so powerfully calculated to inflame the 
soul with divine love, as the holy communion. God 
is love and a fire of love. ^' God is charity.'' — I 
John iv. 8. " My God is a consuming fire." — Deut. 
iv. 54. And this fire of love the Eternal Word 
came to light upon the earth. " I am come to cast 
fire on the earth ; and what will I but that it be 
kindled ? " -»— Luke xii. 49. O, what burning flames 
of holy love does Jesus kindle in the souls who 
receive him in this sacrament with a desire of being 
inflamed with his love ! St. Catharine of Sienna 



344 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

saw, one day, in the hands of a priest, Jesus, in the 
holy sacrament, like a furnace of love; and won- 
dered that the hearts of all men were not set on 
fire, and reduced to ashes, by the flames which 
issued from the holy eucharist. St. Rosa of Lima 
used to say, that in receiving Jesus Christ, she felt 
as if she received the sun. Hence she sent forth 
from her countenance rays which dazzled the sight; 
and the heat emitted from her mouth after commun- 
ion was so intense that the person who reached her 
a drink, felt her hand scorched as if she approached 
a furnace. In visiting the most holy sacrament, 
St. Wenceslaus, king and martyr, was inflamed, 
even externally, with such a degree of heat, that 
the servant who accompanied him, when obliged to 
walk on the snow, trod in the footsteps of the saint, 
and thus felt no cold. *' The eucharist," says St. 
John Chrysostom, *' is a fire which inflames us, 
that, like lions breathing fire, we may retire from 
the altar being made terrible to the devil/' The 
holy sacrament is a fire which inflames the soul to 
such a degree, that we ought to depart from the 
altar breathing such flames of love, that the devil 
shall no longer dare to tempt us. 

But some will say, " I do not communicate often, 
because I am cold in divine love." But, says 
Gerson, he who acts in this manner is like the man 
who refuses to approach the fire because he feels 
cold. The greater, then, our tepidity, the more 
frequently we ought to receive the most holy sacra- 
ment, provided we have a desire to love God. '^ If," 
says St. Francis de Sales, (in his Devout Life, chap, 
xxi.,) ^^ you are asked why you communicate so fre- 
quently, say that two sorts of persons ought to com- 
municate often, the perfect and the imperfect^ the 
perfect to preserve perfection, and the imperfect to 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 345 

acquire perfection." St. Bonaventure says, '* Though 
you feel tepid, approach, trusting in the mercy of 
God. The more a person feels sick, the more he 
stands in need of a physician." — De Prof Rel. cap. 
Ixxvii. And Jesus Christ said to St. Matilda, 
*' When you are to communicate, desire to have all 
the love which any soul has ever had for me, and I 
will accept your love in proportion to the ardor with 
which you wish for it." — Ap. Bios, in concl. An. 
fidel. cap. vi. num. 6. 

Affections and Prayers. 

O enamored of souls, O my Jesus, it is not in 
thy power to give us greater proofs of love in order 
to show us that thou lovest us. And what more 
couldst thou invent to induce us to love thee? Ah! 
grant, O infinite Goodness, that I may love thee 
tenderly and with all my strength ! And who is 
there that has greater claims on the affections of my 
heart, than thou, my Redeemer, who, after having 
given thy life for my salvation, hast given me thy- 
self entirely in this sacrament ? Ah, Lord, that I 
always remembered thy love in order to forget all 
things, and to love thee alone without interruption 
and without reserve ! I love thee, O my Jesus, 
above all things, and I wish to love thee alone. 
Banish from my heart, I entreat thee, all affections 
which are not for thee. I thank thee for giving me 
time to love thee and to weep over the offences I 
have offered to thee My Jesus, I desire that thou 
mayst be the only object of my affections. Assist 
me, save me, and let my salvation consist in loving 
thee with my whole heart, and in loving thee always 
in this life and in the next. Mary, my mother, 
obtain for me the grace to love Jesus Christ ; pray 
to him for me. 



346 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



THIRTY-FIFTH CONSIDERATION 

ON THE LOVING DWELLING OF JESUS CHRIST 
ON THE ALTARS OF THE MOST HOLY SAC- 
RAMENT. 

"Come to me, all ye that labor and are burdened, and I will 
refresh you." — Matt. xi. 28. 

FIRST POINT. 

Having to depart from this world after he had 
completed the work of redemption, oar loving 
Savior did not wish to leave us alone in this valley 
of tears. "No tongue/' says St. Peter of Alcantara, 
**can express the greatness of the love which Jesus 
Christ bears to our souls. Hence, that his absence 
from us might not be an occasion of forgetting him, 
this spouse, before his departure from this world, 
left, as a memorial of his love, this most holy sac- 
rament, in which he himself has remained. He did 
not wish that between him and his servants there 
should be any other pledge than himself, to keep 
alive the remembrance of him." This effort of love 
on the part of Jesus Christ, merits great love from 
us ; and, according to the revelation said to have 
been made to his servant, sister Margaret Mary 
Alacoque, he wished that in these latter times a fes- 
tival should be instituted in honor of his most holy 
heart, in order that, by our devotions and affections, 
we might make some return for his loving dwelling 
on our altars, and thus compensate the insults which 
he has received in this sacrament of love, and which 
he receives every day from heretics and bad Cath- 
olics. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 347 

Jesus has left himself in the most holy sacrament, 
first, that all may be able to find him ; secondly, to 
give audience to all ; thirdly, to give his graces to 
all. He, in the first place, remains on so many 
altars, that all who wish may be able to find him. 
On the night on which the Redeemer took leave of 
his disciples to go to death, they shed tears of sor- 
row at the thought of being separated from their 
dear Master; but Jesus consoled them, saying, (and 
the same he then said also to us,) My children, I 
am going to die for you, in order to show you the 
Jove which I bear you. But at my death I will not 
^ave you alone ; as long as you shall be on earth, 
\ will remain with you in the most holy sacrament, 
r leave you my body, ray soul, my divinity ; I leave 
myself entirely to you. As long as you shall remain 
an earth, I will not depart from you. *' Behold, I 
am with you all days, even to the consummation of 
the world." — Matt, xxviii. 20. The Savior, says 
St. Peter of Alcantara, did not wish to leave his 
spouse alone at such a distance, and therefore he 
has left this sacrament, in which he himself, the 
best of all companions, has remained with her. 
The Gentiles have invented so many gods; but they 
could never imagine a God more loving than our 
God, who remains nigh to us, and assists us with so 
much love. ** Neither is there any other nation so 
great, that hath God so nigh them as our God is 
present to all our petitions.'' — Deut. iv. 7. The 
holy church applies this passage of Deuteronomy 
to the festival of the most holy sacrament. — Resp. 
ii. Noct. iii. 

Behold, then, Jesus Christ remains in our taber- 
nacles as if confined in so many prisons of love. 
His priests remove him from the tabernacle to ex- 
pose him on the altar, or to give the communion, 



348 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

and afterwards put him back to be again shut up; 
and Jesus is content to remain there day and night. 
But why, my Redeemer, do you remain in so many 
churches, even during the night, when the faithful 
lock the doors, and leave you alone? It would be 
enough for you to remain during the day. No ; he 
wished to remain also during the night, though left 
alone, that, in the morning, all who seek may in- 
stantly find him. The sacred spouse went in search 
of her beloved, saying to every one she met, 
**Have you seen him whom my soul loveth?'' — 
Cant. iii. 3. And, not finding him, she raised her 
voice, and exclaimed. My spouse, tell me where 
you are. ** Show me ... . where thou feedest, 
where thou liest in the midday." — Cant. i. 6. 
The spouse did not find him, because then the most 
holy sacrament was not instituted ; but, at present, 
if a soul wishes to find Jesus Christ, she has only 
to go to a church in which the holy eucharist is 
preserved, and there she shall find her beloved ex- 
pecting her. There is not a town nor a convent 
in which the holy sacrament is not kept ; and in all 
these places the King of heaven is content to re 
main shut up in a case of wood or of stone, often 
almost without a lamp burning before him, and 
without any one to keep him company. But^ O 
Lord, says St. Bernard, this is not suited to your 
majesty. " No matter," Jesus replies ; *^ if it be- 
comes not my majesty, it well becomes my love." 

What tender devotion do pilgrims feel in visiting , 
the holy house of Loretto — the holy land — the 
stable at Bethlehem — the hill of Calvary — or the 
holy sepulchre ; in which Jesus Christ was born, 
or lived, or died, or was buried ! But how much 
greater tenderness should we feel in a church, in 
presence of Jesus himself in the blessed sacrament ! 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 349 

The venerable Father John D. Avila used to say, 
that he knew no sanctuary capable of inspiring 
greater devotion or consolation than a church in 
which Jesus remains in the holy eucharist. Father 
Balthassar Alvares would weep in seeing the pal- 
aces of princes filled with courtiers, and the churches, 
in which Jesus Christ dwells, solitary and aban- 
doned. O God ! if the Lord remained only in one 
church, for example in St. Peter's in Rome, and 
only on one day in the year, O, how many pilgrims, 
how many nobles, how many princes would endeavor 
to have the happiness of being there on that day, to 
pay court arid homage to the King of heaven de- 
scended again upon the earth 1 O, what a splendid 
tabernacle of gold adorned with gems should be 
prepared for the occasion. O, with what an abun- 
dance of lights should the dwelling of Jesus Christ 
on the earth be celebrated on that day ! But, says 
the Redeemer, I do not wish to remain only in a 
single church, or but for a single day ; neither do I 
require so much riches, nor such a profusion of 
lights. I wish to remain continually all days, and 
in all places in which my servants are found, that 
all may find me with facility at all times and at any 
hour they wish. 

Ah, if Jesus Christ had not invented this excess 
of love, who could have ever thought of it? Should 
a Christian, after the ascension of the Redeemer 
into heaven, say to him, Lord, if you wish to show 
us your affection, remain with us on our altars under 
the appearance of bread, that we may be able to 
find you whenever we wish, — would not such a de- 
mand be regarded as the extreme of temerity ? 
But what no man could ever even imagine, our Savior 
has invented and accomplished. But, alas ! where 
is our gratitude for so great a favor ? If a prince 
30 



350 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

came from a distance to a village for the purpose of 
being visited by a peasant, how great should be the 
ingratitude of the peasant if he refused to visit his 
sovereign, or if he paid him only a passing visit. 

Affections and Prayers. 
O Jesus, my Redeemer, O love of my soul, how 
much has it cost thee to remain with us in the sac- 
rament ! To be able to remain on our altars, thou 
hadst first to suffer death ; afterwards, in order to 
aid us by thy presence, thou hadst to submit to so 
many grievous insults in this sacrament. And after 
all this, we are so slothful and negligent in visiting 
thee, though we know that thou so ardently desirest 
our visits for the purpose of enriching us with thy 
graces when thou seest us in thy presence ! Lord, 
pardon me ; for I too have been one of these un- 
grateful souls. From this day forward, O my Jesus, 
I wish to visit thee often, and to remain as long as 
I can in thy presence, to thank thee, to love thee, 
and to ask thy graces ; for it is for this purpose that 
thou remainest on earth shut up in our tabernacles, 
and made our prisoner of love. I love thee, O in- 
finite Goodness; I love thee, O God of love; I love 
thee, O Sovereign Good, amiable above every good. 
Grant that I may forget myself and all things, in 
order to remember only thy love, and to spend the 
remainder of my life wholly occupied in pleasing 
thee. Grant that from this day forward I may rel- 
ish no pleasure more than that of remaining at thy 
feet. Inflame my whole soul with thy holy love. 
Mary, my mother, obtain for me a great love for 
the most holy sacrament; and whenever thou seest 
that I am negligent, remind me of the promise I 
now make of going every day to visit the holy sac- 
rament. 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 351 



SECOND POINT. 

In the second place, Jesus Christ, in the blessed 
sacrament, gives audience to all. St. Teresa used 
to say that all cannot speak with the sovereign. 
The poor can scarcely hope to address him, and 
make known to him their necessities, even through 
a third person. But to speak to the King of heaven, 
the intervention of a third person is not necessary ; 
all, the poor as well as the nobles of the earth, may 
speak to him face to face in the holy sacrament. 
Hence Jesus is called the flower of the fields. *' I 
am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys.'' 
— Cant. ii. 1. The flowers of gardens are enclosed 
and reserved; but the flowers of the fields are ex- 
posed to all. '* I am the flower of the field,'' says 
Cardinal Hugo, in his comment on this passage, 
'* because I exhibit myself to be found by all." 
With Jesus, then, in the holy sacrament, all may 
speak every hour in the day. Speaking of the birth 
of the Redeemer in the stable of Bethlehem, St. 
Peter Chrysologus says, that princes do not always 
give audience ; that when a person goes to address 
the king, the guards send him away, saying that the 
hour or day for giving audience is not yet arrived, 
and telling him to come at another time. But the 
Redeemer wished to be born in an open cave, with- 
out a door and without guards, in order to give au- 
dience to all, at all hours : ** Non est satelles qui 
dicat; non est hora." The same happens in the 
holy sacrament. The churches are always open ; 
all can go to converse with the King of heaven 
whenever they wish. Jesus desires that we speak 
to him with unbounded confidence ; it is for this 
purpose that he remains under the species of bread. 



352 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

If Jesus appeared on our altars, as he will on the 
day of judgment, on a throne of glory, who among 
us should dare to approach him ? But, says St. 
Teresa, because the Lord desires that we speak to 
him, and ask his graces with confidence and with- 
out fear, he has therefore clothed his majesty with 
the appearance of bread. He desires, as Thomas 
a Kempis says, that we converse with him as one 
friend does with another — ^^ ut amicus ad amicum." 
When a soul remains at the foot of the altar, 
Jesus appears to address her in the words of the 
Canticles, *' Arise, make haste, my love, my beauti- 
ful one, and come.'' — Cant. ii. 10. Arise, arise, O 
my soul, and fear not. Make haste, approach to 
me. 317/ love, you ^re no longer my enemy ; for 
you love me, and you repent of having offended me, 
317/ bea7tt7ful one, you are no longer deformed in my 
eyes ; my grace has made you beautiful. And 
come, tell me what you want ; I remain here on 
purpose to hear your prayers. What joy should 
you feel, dear reader, if a king called you into his 
closet, and said to you, JVhat do you wishfoi^ 1 loliat 
do you stand in need of 7 I love you, and I desire 
to promote your welfare. This, Jesus Christ, the 
King of heaven, says to all who visit him — *' Come 
to me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I 
will refresh you." — Matt. xi. 28. Come, all you 
that are poor, infirm, or afflicted ; I am able and 
willing to enrich you, to heal you, to console you. 
For this purpose I remain on your altars. ** Thou 
shalt call, and he shall say, Here I am.'' — Isa. 
Iviii. 9. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Since then, my beloved Jesus, thou remainest on 
our altars to hear the supplications of the miserable 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 353 

who have recourse to thee, hear the prayer which 
I, a miserable sinner, present to thee. O Lamb of 
God, sacrificed and lifeless on the cross, I am a 
soul redeemed by thy blood ; pardon me all the of- 
fences I have offered to thee, and assist me by thy 
grace, that I may never lose thee again. Impart to 
me, O my Jesus, a portion of the sorrow which 
thou didst feel in the Garden of Gethsemani for my 
sins. O my God ! that I had never offended thee ! 
My dear Lord, had I died in sin, I could never 
more love thee ; but thou hast waited for me that 1 
might love thee. I thank thee for the time which 
thou givest me ; and since I can now love thee, I 
wish to love thee. Give me the grace of thy holy 
love, but of a love which will make me forget all 
things, to think only of pleasing thy most loving 
heart. Ah, my Jesus, thou hast spent thy whole 
life for me ; grant that I may spend at least the re- 
mainder of my life for thee. Draw me entirely to 
thy love : make me all thine before I die. I hope 
for all graces through the merits of thy passion. I 
also hope in thy intercession, O Mary ; thou know- 
est that I love thee ; have pity on me. 

THIRD POINT. 

Jesus, in the holy sacrament, gives audience to 
all in order to bestow his graces on all. St. Augus- 
tine says that the Lord has a greater desire of com- 
municating his graces to us, than we have of re- 
ceiving them. ** Plus ille vult tibi benefacere, 
quam tu accipere concupiscas.'* The reason is, 
that God is infinite goodness, and goodness is natu- 
rally diffusive ; therefore it desires to impart its 
goods to all. God complains when souls do not 
come to ask his graces. *^ Am I," he says, ** be- 
30* 



354 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

come a wilderness to Israel, or a latevvard spring- 
ing land 1 Why, then, have my people said, We are 
revolted; we will come to thee no more?" — Jer. 
ii. 31. Why, says the Lord, will you come to me 
no more ? Have you, when you asked my graces, 
found me like a barren or lateward springing land? 
St. John saw the Lord with his breast full of milk 

— that is, of mercy — and girded with a band of 
gold — that is, with the love with which he desires 
to dispense his graces to us. ** I saw one like the 
Son of man .... girt about the paps with a golden 
girdle." — Apoc. i. 13. Jesus Christ is always 
ready to bestow his favors upon us; but the disciple 
says that, in the holy sacrament, he dispenses his 
graces in greater abundance. And, according to 
blessed Henry Suson, it is in the holy eucharist 
that Jesus most willingly hears our prayers. 

As a mother, whose breasts are full of milk, goes 
in search of infants to give them suck, in order to 
be relieved of the burden, so our Lord, from this 
sacrament of love, cries out, and says to us all, 
** You shall be carried at the breasts .... as one 
whom the mother caresses, so will I comfort you." 

— Isa. Ixvi. 12, 13. Father Balthassar saw Jesus 
in the most holy sacrament, having his hands full 
of graces, to dispense them to men; but found no 
one to ask them. 

O, happy the soul that remains at the foot of the 
altar to ask graces of Jesus Christ ! The Countess 
of Feria, afterwards a religious of the order of St. 
Clare, remained as long as she could before the 
blessed sacrament, and was therefore called the 
spouse of the sacrament. She continually received 
treasures of graces at the foot of the altar. Being 
asked one day how she was employed during so 
many hours before the tabernacle, she replied, '* I 



PREPARATION FOR BEATH. 355 

would remain there for all eternity. I am asked 
what I do before the blessed sacrament. And 
what do I not do 1 What does a beggar do in the 
presence of a rich man? What does a sick man 
do before his physician? What do I do? I thank 
my Savior, I love him, I ask his graces." O, how 
well calculated is the advice contained in these 
last words to make us draw fruit from our visits to 
the holy sacrament! 

Jesus Christ complained to the servant of God, 
sister Margaret Mary Alacoque, of the ingratitude 
of men to him in this sacrament of love. To make 
her understand the love with which he dwells on 
our altars, he showed her his heart in a throne of 
flames, surrounded with thorns and surmounted 
by a cross, and said to her, " Behold that heart, 
which has loved men so tenderly, which has re- 
served nothing, and which has been even consumed 
to show its love for them. But, in return, the 
greater part of them treat me with ingratitude by 
their irreverence, and by their contempt of my love 
in this sacrament. And what is most painful to me 
is, that they are hearts consecrated tome." Chris- 
tians do not visit Jesus Christ, because they do not 
love him. They spend entire hours in the society 
of friends ; and they feel tediousness in conversing 
half an hour with Jesus Christ. Some will say, 
Why does not Jesus Christ give me his love ? I 
answer, If you do not banish the world from your 
heart, how can divine love enter it ? Ah ! if you 
could say, with sincerity, what St. Philip Neri said 
at the sight of the holy sacrament — Behold mi/ love! 
behold my love ! — you should not feel tediousness 
in spending hours and entire days before the blessed 
sacrament. 

To souls enamored of God, hours spent before 



356 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Jesus in the sacrament, appear moments. St. 
Francis Xavier labored the whole day for the salva- 
tion of souls; and what was his repose at night? 
It consisted in remaining before the holy sacra- 
ment. St. John Francis Regis, that great mission- 
ary of France, after having spent the entire day in 
preaching and hearing confessions, went at night 
to the church. And having sometimes found it 
shut, he remained outside the door, exposed to the 
cold and wind, to pay homage, at least at a dis- 
tance, to his beloved Lord. St. Aloysius Gonzaga 
wished to remain always before the holy sacrament; 
but was forbidden to do so by his superiors. In 
passing by the altar, he felt himself drawn by Jesus 
to remain, but was compelled by obedience to de- 
part. Hence he would lovingly say to his Savior, 
** Recede a me, Domine, recede." Lord, do not 
draw me; allow me to depart; obedience obliges 
me to go away. If, my brother, you do not feel this 
love for Jesus Christ, endeavor at least to visit him 
every day ; he will certainly inflame your heart. 
Do you feel cold ? Approach the fire, says St. 
Catharine of Sienna. Ah ! happy you, if Jesus, by 
his grace, inflames you with his love. Then you 
shall certainly no longer love; on the contrary, you 
shall despise all the goods of this world. *' When," 
says St. Francis de Sales, " a house is on fire, all 
that is within. is thrown out through the windows." 

AffectiOxXs and Prayers. 

Ah! my Jesus, make thyself known, make thy- 
self loved. Thou art so amiable, thou canst do 
nothing more to induce men to love thee ; how, 
then, does it happen that so few among them love 
thee ? Alas ! I have been among these ungrateful 
wretches. I have been sufficiently grateful to 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 357 

creatures, who have bestowed any gift or favor 
upon me ; to thee only, who hast given me thyself, 
have I been ungrateful, so as often to offend thee 
grievously, and insult thee by my sins. But I see 
that, instead of abandoning me, thou dost continue 
to seek after me, and to ask my love. I feel that 
thou dost continue to propose to me this loving 
precept — *' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
thy ichole hearth Since, then, thou wishest to be 
loved even by me after my ingratitude, I desire to 
love thee. Thou wishest for my love, and at pres- 
ent, through thy grace, I desire only to love thee. 
I love thee, my love, my all. Through that blood 
which thou hast shed for me, help me to love thee. 
My beloved Redeemer, I place all my hopes in this 
blood, and also in the intercession of thy most holy 
mother, whom thou wishest to assist me by her 
prayers in the work of my salvation. O Mary, my 
mother, pray to Jesus for me. Thou dost inflame 
all thy lovers with the divine love ; I love thee ten- 
derly ; procure it also for me. 



. THIRTY-SIXTH CONSIDERATION. 

ON THE CONFORMITY TO THE WILL OF GOD. 

"And life in his good-will." — Ps. xxix. 6. 

FIRST POINT. 

All our salvation and perfection consists in lov- 
ing God. ** He that loveth not, abideth in death." 
— 1 John iii. 14. " Charity, which is the bond of 



358 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

perfection." — Col. iii. 14. But the perfection of 
love consists in conformity to the divine vi^ill ; for, 
as the Areopagite says, the principal effect of love 
is, to unite the will of lovers, so that they may have 
but one heart and one will. Hence our actions, 
our works of penance, our communions and alms- 
deeds, please God only inasmuch as they are con- 
formable to the divine will ; for, if they are not 
conformable to the will of God, they are not good 
works, but are defective, and deserving of chastise- 
ment. 

Our Savior came down from heaven principally 
to teach us by example to conform ourselves to the 
will of God. Behold what he said, as the apostle 
writes, at his entrance into this world : " Sacrifice 
and oblation thou wou^dst not; but a body thou hast 
fitted to me .... Then, said I, behold I come 

that I should do thy will, O my God." — 

Heb. X. 5, 7. You, O my Father, have refused the 
victims offered by men ; you wish that, by my death, 
I should sacrifice this body which you have given 
me ; behold me ready to do your will. This he 
frequently declared, saying, that he came on earth 
only to do the will of his Father. *' I came down 
from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of Him 
that sent me." — John vi. 38. And by going to die 
through obedience to the will of his Father, he* 
wished to make known to us his great love for his 
Father. ** That the world may know that I love 
the Father ; and as the Father hath given me com- 
mandment, so do I. Arise ; let us go hence." — 
John xiv. 31. Hence he has said that he acknowl- 
edges for his disciples only those who fulfil the 
divine will. "Whosoever shall do the will of my 
Father that is in heaven, he is my brother, and 
sister, and mother." — Matt. xii. 50". The accom- 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 359 

plishment of the divine will has been the only ob- 
ject and desire of the saints in all their works. 
Blessed Henry Suson used to say, "I would rather 
be the vilest worm on earth in conformity with the 
will of God, than be a seraph with my own will." 
St. Teresa says, '* All that he who practises prayer 
should seek is, to conform his will to the divine 
will; and let him be assured,'^ adds the saint, "that 
in this consists the highest perfection. He who 
shall practise it best shall receive the greatest gifts 
from God, and shall make the greatest progress in 
spiritual life.'' The blessed in heaven love God 
perfectly, because they are in all things conformed 
to the divine will. Hence Jesus Christ has taught 
us tp do the will of God on earth as the saints do it 
in heaven, '*Thy will be done on earth as it is in 
heaven." He who does the will of God shall, as 
David says, become a man according to God's own 
heart, ** I have found a man according to my own 
heart, who shall do all my wills." — Acts xiii. 22. 
And why ? Because David was always prepared 
to do whatever God wished. *' My heart is ready, 
O my God, my heart is ready." — Ps. cvii. 2. He 
asked nothing else from the Lord, than to teach 
him to do his will. ** Teach me to do thy will." — 
Ps. cxlii. 9. 

O, how great is the value of an act of perfect 
resignation to the will of God ; it is sufficient to 
make a saint ! While St. Paul was persecuting the 
church, Jesus appeared to him, enlightened and 
converted him. The saint only offered himself to 
do the divine will. " Lord, what wilt thou have me 
to do?" — Acts ix. 6. And behold, Jesus Christ 
instantly declared him a vessel of election and 
apostle of the Gentiles. ** This man is to rae a 
vessel of election to carry my name before the 



360 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Gentiles." — Acts ix. 15. He who fasts, gives alms, 
or mortifies himself for God's sake, gives a part of 
himself to God ; but the man who gives his will to 
God, gives himself entirely to him. All that God 
asks of us is our heart, that is, our will. ** My 
son, give me thy heart." — Prov. xxiii. 26. In a 
word, the accomplishment of the divine will must 
be the object of all our desires, of our devotions, 
meditations, communions, &lc. The object of all 
our prayers must be, to obtain from God the grace 
to do his will. And for this purpose, we must im- 
plore the intercession of our holy advocates, and 
particularly of most holy Mary, that they may pro- 
cure for us light and strength to conform ourselves 
to the will of God in all things, but particularly in 
embracing what is opposed to self-love. The Ven- 
erable John Avila used to say, *' A single * Blessed 
be God' in adversity, is better than six thousand 
acts of thanksgiving in prosperity. 

Affections and Prayers. 

Ah, my God, all my past ruin has arisen from a 
want of conformity to thy will. O God of my soul, 
I detest and curse a thousand times the days and 
moments in which I have, in order to do my own 
will, contradicted thy holy will. I now give my 
whole will to thee. Accept it, O my Lord, and 
bind it so firmly to thy love, that it may never more 
be able to rebel against thee. I love thee, O infinite 
Goodness, and through the love which I bear thee, 
I offer myself entirely to thee. Dispose of me and 
of all I possess as thou pleasest; I resign myself 
entirely to thy holy will. Preserve me from the mis- 
fortune of doing any thing against thy holy will, 
and then treat me as thou wishest. Eternal Father, 
hear me for the love of Jesus Christ. My Jesus, 



PREPARATION POR DEATH. 361 

h(^ar me through the merits of thy passion. Most 
holy Mary, assist me ; obtain for me the grace to 
fulfil the divine wiL, in the accomplishment of 
which my salvation entirely consists ; obtain this 
grace for me, and I ask nothing more. 

SECOND POINT. 

It is necessary to conform ourselves to the will 
of God, not only in crosses and adversity, which 
come directly from God, such as infirmities, deso- 
lation of spirit, loss of property or relatives, but 
also in those which come indirectly from him, that 
is, through men, such as defamation, contempt, in- 
juries, and all other persecutions. And let us re- 
member that when others injure us in our property 
or honor, God does not will their sin, but he wills 
our poverty and our humiliation. It is certain that 
whatsoever happens, takes place by the divine will. 
" I am the Lord ; I form the light, and create dark- 
ness ; I make peace, and create evil.'' — Isa. xlv. 
6. And Ecclesiasticus says, ** Good things and 
evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from 
God.*' — xi. 14. In a word, all things, blessings as 
well as misfortunes, come from God. 

The crosses which happen to us are called evils, 
because we call them so, and because we make 
them evils ; if we accepted them as we ought, with 
resignation, from the hands of God, they should 
prove to us, not evils, but blessings. The jewels 
which give the greatest splendor to the crown of 
the saints, are the tribulations which they have 
borne for God, as coming from his hands. What 
did holy Job say, when he was told that the Sabeans 
had taken away his property ? "The Lord gave, 
and the Lord hath taken away." — Job i. 2L He 
31 



362 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

did not say, The Lord gave me these goods, and 
the Sabeans have taken them away ; hut, the Lord 
has given them, and the Lord has taken them away. 
And therefore he blessed the Lord, knowing that all 
had happened by his will. ^* And as it hath pleased 
the Lord, so it is done ; blessed be the name of 
the Lord." — Ibid. When the holy martyrs Epic- 
tetus and Athone were tormented with iron hooks 
and burning torches, they only said, " Lord, your 
will be done in us!'* And their dying words were, 
** O eternal God, be blessed for giving us the grace 
to accomplish in ourselves your holy will." Gesa- 
rius relates (lib. x. cap. vi.) that a certain monk 
wrought many miracles, though his life was not 
more austere than that of the other monks. Being 
astonished at his miracles, the abbot asked him one 
day what devotions he practised. In answer, he 
said that he was more imperfect than his compan- 
ions, but that he was always careful to conform 
himself in all things to the divine will. " And," said 
the superior, '* did you feel no displeasure at the in- 
jury which an enemy did to our farm some days 
ago?" ''No, father," replied the monk ; ''I, on the 
contrary, thanked the Lord, because! know that he 
does and permits all things for our welfare." From 
this, the abbot perceived the sanctity of this good 
religious. 

We ought to do the same when any cross or ad- 
versity happens to us. Let us accept them alf 
from the divine hands, not only with patience, but 
also with joy, in imitation of the apostles, who re- 
joiced when they were maltreated for the sake of 
Jesus Christ. '* They went from the presence of 
the council, rejoicing that they were accounted 
worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus." 
— Acts v. 4L And what greater happiness than 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 363 

to bear crosses, and to know that, in embracing 
them, we please God ? If we wish to enjoy contin- 
ual peace, let us endeavor, from this day forward, 
to embrace the divine will, always saying in all that 
happens to us, ** Yea, Father ; for so hath it 
seemed good in thy sight." — Matt. xi. 26. Lord, 
this has pleased you ; let it be done. To this end 
we ought to direct all our meditations, commun- 
ions, visits, and prayers, always imploring the Lord 
to make us conform to his will. And let us always 
offer ourselves to him, saying, Behold me, O my 
God : do with me what you please. St. Teresa 
offered herself to God at least fifty times in the day, 
that he might dispose of her as he wished. 

Affe<3tions and Prayers. 

Ah, my divine King, my beloved Redeemer, 
come, and reign henceforth in my soul with undi- 
vided sway. Take my whole will, that it may de- 
sire and wish nothing but what thou w^ishest. My 
Jesus, I have hitherto offended thee so grievously by 
resisting thy holy will. This gives me greater 
pain than if I had suffered every other evil. I re- 
pent of it, and am sorry for it with my whole heart 
I deserve chastisement : I do not refuse it ; I ac- 
cept it. Preserve me only from the chastisement 
of being deprived of thy love ; and then do with 
me whatever thou pleasest. I love thee, my dear 
Redeemer ; I love thee, my God ; and because I 
love thee, I wish to do whatever thou wishest. O 
tvill of God, thou art my love. O blood of my 
Jesus, thou art my hope. In thee I hope to be, 
from this day forward, always united to the divine 
will. It shall be my guide, my desire, my love, 
and ray peace. In it I wish always to live and re- 
pose. *' In peace in the self-same I will sleep and 



364 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

I will rest." — Ps. iv. 9. I shall always say, in 
whatever shall befall me, My God, thus thou hast 
willed, thus I will ; my God, I wish only what thou 
wishest; may thy will be always accomplished in 
me. Thy will he done. My Jesus, through thy 
merits, grant me the grace always to repeat this 
beautiful dictate of love — Thy will he done I thy 
will he done ! O Mary, happy thou, who always 
fulfilled, in all things, the divine will. Obtain 
for me the grace that henceforth I too may always 
fulfil it. My queen, through thy great love for 
Jesus Christ, obtain for me this grace. Through 
thy prayers I hope for it. 

THIRD POINT. 

He who is united to the divine will enjoys, even 
in this life, a perpetual peace. " Whatsoever shall 
befall the just man, it shall not make him sad." — 
Prov. xii. 21. Yes ; for a man cannot enjoy great- 
er happiness than that which ariseth from the ac- 
complishment of all his wishes. He who wills only 
what God wills, possesses all that he desires ; for 
whatever happens to him happens by the will of 
God- If, says Salvian, the soul that is resigned be 
humbled, she desires her humiliation; if she is 
poor, she delights in her poverty ; in a word, she 
wishes whatever happens ; and thus she leads a 
happy life. ^' Humiles sunt, hoc volunt : pauperes 
sunt, paupertate delectantur : itaque beati dicendi 
sunt." Let cold, heat, wind, or rain come, and he 
that is united to the will of God says, I wish for 
this cold, this heat, this wind, and this rain, be- 
cause God wills them. If loss of property, perse- 
cution, or sickness befall him, he says, I wish to 
be miserable, to be persecuted, to be sick, because 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 365 

such is the will of God. He who reposes in the 
divine will, and is resigned to whatever the Lord 
does, is like a man who stands above the clouds, 
and, without injury or perturbation, beholds the 
tempest raging below. This is the peace which, 
according to the apostle, ** surpasseth all under- 
standing," (Phil. iv. 7;) which exceeds all the de- 
lights of the world ; a perpetual peace, subject to 
no vicissitudes. *^ A fool is changed like the moon. 
.... A holy man continueth in wisdom like the 
sun." — Eccl. xxvii. 12. Fools — that is, sinners 

— are changed like the moon, which increases to- 
day, grows less on to-morrow. To-day they are 
seen to laugh, and to-morrow to weep ; to-day all 
joy and meekness, to-morrow all sadness and fury ; 
in a word, they change with prosperity and adver- 
sity. But the just man is like the sun, always the 
same, and uniformly tranquil in whatever happens ; 
for his peace consists in conforming himself to the 
divine will. *'And on earth peace to men of good 
will." — Luke ii. 14. At the bare mention of the 
will of Gody St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi used to 
feel so much consolation, that she would fall into 
an ecstasy of love. When the will is unit- 
ed to the will of God, crosses may produce some 
pain in the inferior part, but in the superior part 
peace shall always reign. ** Your joy no man shall 
take from you." — John xvi. 22. But how great 
the folly of those who oppose the will of God ! 
What God wills shall certainly happen ; '* for who 
resisleth his will?" — Rom. ix. 19. They, there- 
fore, must bear the cross, but without fruit and 
without peace. '* Who hath resisted him, and hath 
had peace ? " — Job ix. 4. 

And what e\sQ but our welfare does God will ? 

— *' This is the will of your God, your sanctifica- 

31* 



366 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

tion.'' — 1 Thess. iv. 3. He wishes to see us 
saints, that we may he content in this life and 
happy in the next. Let us remember that the 
crosses which come to us from God, *' work togeth- 
er unto good/' — Rom. viii. 28. Even chastise- 
ments are inflicted on us in this life, not for ruin, 
but that we may amend, and gain eternal beatitude. 
*' Let us believe that these scourges of the Lord 
.... have happened for our amendment, and not 
for our destruction.'' — Jud. viii. 27. God loves 
us so ardently, that he not only desires, but is 
solicitous for, the salvation of each of us. — Ps. 
xxxix. 18. And what will he deny us after having 
given us his Son ? ** He that spared not even his 
own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how hath 
he not also with him given us all things ? " Rom. 
viii. 32. Let us, then, always abandon ourselves in- 
to the hands of that God who is always solicitous 
for our welfare as long as we remain in this world. 
'^Casting all your care upon him; for he hath 
care of you." — 1 Peter v. 7. Think of me, said 
our Lord to St. Catharine of Sienna, and I will al- 
ways think of you. Let us often say with the 
spouse of the Canticles, *' My beloved to me and I 
to him." — Cant. ii. 16. My beloved thinks of my 
welfare, and I will think only of pleasing him, and 
of uniting myself to his holy will. We ought, says 
the holy abbot Nilus, to pray, not that God would do 
what we wish, but that we may do what he wills. 
He who always acts in this manner shall lead a 
happy life, and shall die a happy death. He who 
dies with entire resignation to the divine will, gives 
to others a moral certainty of his salvation. But 
he who is not united to the divine will during life, 
shall not be united to it at death, and shall not be 
saved. Let us^ then, endeavor to make ourselves 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 3QT 

&miliar with some sayings of the Scripture, bj 
iVhich we shall keep ourselves always united to the 
tviil of God. ** Lord, what wilt thou have me ta 
do?" Lord, tell me what you wish me to do; I am 
ready and willing to do it. Behold the handmaid 
of tlie Lord. Behold, my soul is your servant.; 
command, and you shall be obeyed. I am thine; 
save me. Save me, O Lord, and then do what you 
please with me ; save yours ; I am no longer mine. 
When any serious cross or adversity happens to us, 
let us say, ** Yea, Father, for so it hath seemed 
good in thy sight." — Matt. xi. 26. My God, this 
has pleased you ; let it be done. Above all, let the 
third petition of the Lord's Prayer be dear to us : 
Thy will he done on earth, as it is in heaven. Let 
us say it often with fervor, and let us repeat it sev- 
eral times. Happy we, if we live and die saying, 
Thi/^ will be done I thy will he done ! 

Affections and Prayers. 
O Jesus, my Redeemer, thou hast sacrificed thy 
life on the cross in order to become the cause of 
my salvation ; have mercy on me, then, and save 
me ; do not permit a soul which thou hast redeem- 
ed by so many pains, and with so much love, to 
have to hate thee for eternity in hell. Thou canst 
do nothing more to oblige me to love thee. This 
thou gavest me to understand when, before thou 
didst expire on Calvary, thou utteredst these loving 
words. It is consummated. But how have I repaid 
thy love ? For the past I can truly say that I have 
done all I could to displease thee, and to oblige 
thee to hate me. I thank thee for having borne me 
with so much patience, and for now giving me time 
to repair my ingratitude, and to love thee before I 
die. Yes, I wish to love thee, and I wish to love 



368 PROTESTATION OF DEATH. 

thee ardently, my Savior, my God, my love, and ray 
all; I wish to do whatever is pleasing to thee; I 
give thee my whole will, my whole liberty, and all 
that I possess. From this hour I sacrifice ray life 
to thee, accepting the death which thou shalt send 
me, along with all the pains and circumstances that 
shall accompany it. From this moment I unite 
this sacrifice of mine with the great sacrifice of thy 
life, which thou, my Jesus, didst offer for me on the 
cross. I wish to die in order to do thy will. Ah I 
through the merits of thy passion, give me grace 
to be, during life, resigned to the arrangements of 
thy providence. And when death shall come, grant 
that I may embrace, with an entire conformity, thy 
holy will. I wish to die, O my Jesus, in order to 
please thee ; I wish to die saying, Tin/ will he 
done. Mary, my mother, it was thus thou didst die; 
ah ! obtain for me the grace that I too may die in 
this manner. 

Live, Jesus, our love, and Mary, our hope'. 

END OF THE PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 



PROTESTATION OF DEATH. 

My God, prostrate in thy presence, I adore thee; 
and I intend to make the following protestation, as 
if I were on the point of passing from this life to 
eternity. 

My Lord, because thou art infallible truth, and 
hast revealed it to the holy church, I believe the 
mystery of the most holy Trinity, Father, Son, and 



PROTESTATION OF DEATH. 369 

Holy Ghost ; three persons, but only one God, who 
eternally rewards the just with heaven, and pun- 
ishes sinners with hell. I believe that the second 
person, that is, the Son of God, became man and 
died for the salvation of men ; and I believe all that 
the holy church believes. I thank thee for having 
made me a Christian ; and I protest that in this holy 
faith I wish to live and die. 

My God, my hope, trusting in thy promises, I hope 
from thy mercy, not through my merits, but through 
the merits of Jesus Christ, for the pardon of my 
sins, perseverance in thy grace, and, after this mis- 
erable life, for the glory of heaven. And should 
the devil, at death, tempt me to despair at the sight 
of my sins, I protest that I wish always to hope in 
thee my Lord, and that I wish to die in the loving 
arms of thy goodness. 

O God, worthy of infinite love, I love thee with 
my whole heart, and more than I love myself; and 
I protest that I wish to die making an act of love, 
that thus I may continue to love thee for eternity 
in heaven ; which, for this purpose,! ask and desire 
from thee. And if, O Lord, instead of loving 
thee, I have hitherto despised thy infinite goodness, 
I am sorry for it with my whole heart, and I pro- 
test that I wish to die bewailing and detesting for- 
ever the offences I have offered to thee. I purpose, 
for the future, to die rather than commit another 
sin. And for the love of you, I pardon all who 
have offended me. 

O my God, I accept death, and all the pains which 
shall accompany my death. I unite them to the 
sorrows and to the death of Jesus Christ, and offer 
them in honor of thy supreme dominion, and in sat- 
isfaction for my sins. O Lord, for the sake of the 
great sacrificeof himself which thy divine Son offered 



370 PROTESTATION OF PEATH. 

on the altar of the cross, accept this sacrifice of my 
life, which I offer to thee. I now, for the moment 
of my death, resign myself entirely to thy divine 
will, protesting that I wish to die, saying, O Lord, 
thy will he always done. 

Most holy Virgin Mary, my advocate and my 
mother, thou, after God, art and shalt be my hope 
and consolation at the hour of death. 1 now invoke 
thee, and pray thee to assist me in that great pas- 
sage. My dear queen, do not abandon me at that 
last moment. Come, then, and take my soul, and 
present it to thy Son. From this moment I expect 
thee, and hope to die under thy protection and pros- 
trate at thy feet. My protector, St. Joseph, St. 
Michael the archangel, my angel-guardian, my 
holy advocates, come all, and assist me in that last 
battle with hell. 

And thou, my crucified Love, thou, my Jesus, ^ 
,who, to obtain for me a good death, hast volunta- 
rily chosen so painful a death, remember at that 
hour that I am one of the sheep which thou hast 
purchased with thy blood. O my Savior^ who alone 
canst console and save me at that hour when every 
one on this earth shall have abandoned me, and 
when no friend shall be able to assist me, make me 
then worthy to receive thee for my viaticum. Do 
not permit me to lose thee forever, and to go for- 
ever, to remain at a distance from thee. No, my 
beloved Savior ; since I now embrace thee, receive 
me then into thy holy wounds. At my last breath 
I intend to breathe forth my soul into the loving 
wound in thy side, saying now, for that moment, 
Jesus and Mary, I give thee my heart and my soul; 
Jesus and Mary, I give thee my heart and my 
soul. 

Happy suffering, to suffer for God 1 Happy death, 
to die in the Lord ! 



PREP^ARATION FOR DEATH. 371 

I embrace thee, my good Redeemer, that I may 
die in thy embraces. If, O my soul, at your depart- 
ure from this world, Mary assists you, and Jesus re- 
ceives you, death shall be for you, not death, but 
sweet repose. 

Prayer to he said every Day for a good Death, 

O Lord Jesus Christ, through that agony which 
thy most noble soul suffered when it went forth 
from thy blessed body, have mercy on my sinfii^ 
Boul when it shall depart from my body. Amen, 



PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

Death is certain. " It is appointed unto men 
once to die.'* — Heb. ix. 27. But the time and 
nature of our death is uncertain. Hence Jesus 
Christ says, ** Be you ready ; for at what hour you 
think not, the Son of man will come." — Luke xii. 
40. He says. Be you ready ; hence, to save our 
souls, it is not enough to prepare ourselves to die 
when death comes ; it is necessary at that hour to 
find ourselves prepared to embrace death in the 
manner and with the circumstances in which it shall 
happen. Hence every one will do well to make, at 
least once in the month, the following acts : — 

Behold me, O my God, ready to embrace the 
death w^hich thou hast appointed for me. From this 
moment I accept it, and I sacrifice my life to thee, 
in honor of thy majesty, and also in atonement for 
my sins, rejoicing that this flesh of mine, for the 
indulgence of which I have so often offended thee, 
shall be devoured by worms, and reduced to dust. 



372 PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 

- My Jesus, I unite the pains and agony which I 
shall then suffer, to the pains and agony which thou, 
my Savior, enduredst at thy death. I accept death 
with all the circumstances which thou dost wish to 
accompany it. I accept the time, whether it be dis- 
tant or near. I accept the manner, whether in bed 
or out of bed; whether w^ith or without warning; 
and with infirmities more or less painful, as may be 
pleasing to thee. In fine, I resign myself to thy 
holy will. Give me strength to bear all with pa- 
tience. 

*'What shall I render to the Lord for all the 
things that he hath rendered to me ? " — Ps. cxv. I 
thank thee, O my God, first, for the gift of faith, 
protesting that I w^ish to die a child of the holy 
Catholic church. I thank thee for not having taken 
me out of life when I was in sin, and for having 
pardoned me so often with so much mercy. I thank 
thee for the great lights and graces with which thou 
soQghtest to draw me to thy love. 

I pray thee to make me die receiving thee in the 
most holy viaticum, that, united with thee, I may 
go to present myself before thy tribunal. I do not 
deserve to hear from thy lips, " Well done, good 
and faithful servant; because thou hast been faith- 
ful over a few things, I will place thee over many 
things ; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." — 
Matt. XXV. 2L I do not deserve to hear from thee 
these consoling words, because 1 have not been 
perfect in any thing ; but thy death makes rae 
hope to be admitted into heaven, there to love thee 
for eternity, and with all my strength. 

My crucified Love, have mercy on me ; look on 
me with that love with which thou didst behold me 
from the cross when thou wert dying for me. 
** The sins of my youth and my ignorances do not 



PREPABATION FOR DEATH. 373 

remember, O Lord." My sins fill me with terror ; 
but this cross, on which I see thee dead for my 
sake, consoles me. ** Behold the wood of the 
cross, on which was suspended the salvation of the 
world." I desire to end my life, in order to cease 
to oifend thee. Ah, through the blood which thou 
hast shed for me, pardon, before death arrives, the 
offences I have offered to thee. '* O blood of the 
innocent, wash away the sins of a penitent." 

My Jesus, I embrace thy cross; I kiss the 
wounds of thy sacred feet, in which I wish to 
breathe forth my soul. O, do not abandon me at 
the last moment of my life. ** Assist, we beseech 
thee, thy servants, whom thou hast redeemed by thy 
precious blood." I love thee with my whole heart. 
I love thee more than myself, and I am sorry with 
my whole soul for having hitherto despised thee. 
Lord, I was lost, but thou hast delivered me from the 
world; receive my soul, then, at this moment, for 
the moment of my death. In the words of St. Aga- 
tha, I pray thee, O Lord, who hast taken from me 
the love of the world, receive my soul. In thee, O 
Lord, have I hoped ; may I not be confounded for- 
ever; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of 
truth. 

O holy Virgin, assist me at the hour of my death. 
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for me a sinner, 
now and at the hour of my death ; in thee, O lady, 
have I hoped ; let me not be confounded forever. 
My protector, St. Joseph, obtain for me a holy 
death ; my holy angel-guardian, holy St. Michael, 
the archangel, defend me from the powers of hell 
in that last struggle. My holy advocates, all ye 
saints of paradise, assist me at that great moment. 
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be in my company at the 
hour of my death. 
32 



374 A CHRISTIAN IN HIS LAST AGONY 



A CHRISTIAN IN HIS LAST AGONY 
ADDRESSING JESUS ON THE CROSS. 

Jesus, my Redeemer, in a few moments thou 
shalt be my Judge. Have mercy on me before the 
moment of judgment arrives. No, I fear neither 
ray own sins, nor the rigor of thy judgment, when I 
gee thee dead on this cross in order to save me. 

Do not cease to comfort me in the straits in 
which I now find myself My enemies wish to 
terrify me by saying that there is no salvation for 
me. "Many say to my soul, There is no salvation 
for him in his God." — Ps. iii. 3. But I will never 
cease to trust in thy goodness, saying, " Thou, O 
Lord, art my protector." — Ibid. ver. 4. Arise — 
comfort me, tell me that thou art my salvation. 
" Say to my soul, I am thy salvation." — Ps. 
xxxiv. 3. 

Ah, suffer not to be lost so many pains and igno- 
minies which thou hast suffered, and so much blood 
which thou hast shed for me. I ask thee in a 
special manner, through the agony which thou 
didst suffer when thy blessed soul was separated 
from thy sacred body, to have mercy on my soul 
when it shall depart from my body. 

It is true that by my sins I have often insulted 
thee ; but now I love thee above all things. I love 
thee more than myself; and I repent with my whole 
heart of all the offences I have offered to thee. 1 
detest and abhor them above every evil. I see that 
on account of the injuries I have done thee, I 
would deserve a thousand hells ; but the bitter death 
which thou hast voluntarily suffered for me, and the 
great mercies thou hast shown me, make me hope 



ADDRESSING JESUS ON THE CROSS. 375 

with certainty that, when I appear before thy tribu- 
nal, thou wilt give me the kiss of peace. 

Placing all my confidence in thy goodness, I 
abandon myself, O my God, into thy loving arms. 
" In thee, O Lord, have I hoped ; let me never be 
confounded." By the offences I have offered to 
thee, I have so often deserved hell ; but I hope in 
thy blood, that thou hast already pardoned me, and 
I hope to attain heaven, there to '* praise thy mercies 
forever and ever." 

I cheerfully accept all the pains which thou dost 
prepare for me in purgatory ; it is just that fire 
should punish in me all the insults I have offered to 
thee. O holy prison, when shall I find myself shut 
up in thee, secure of never again being able to lose 
my God? O holy fire, when wilt thou purify me 
from so many stains, and render me worthy to enter 
the land of bliss? 

Eternal Father, through the merits of the 
death of Jesus Christ, make me die in ihy grace and 
in thy love, that I may go to love thee for eternity. I 
thank thee for all the graces thou hast bestowed up- 
on me during my life, and particularly for the great 
grace of giving me the gift of faith, and of having 
made me receive, during these last days of my life, 
all the holy sacraments. 

Thou dost will my death, and I wish to die in 
order to please thee. It is very little for me, O my 
Jesus, to die for the love of thee, who hast died for 
the love of me. I gladly say with St. Francis, 
'* May I die for the love of thee, who condescended 
to die for the love of me." 

1 accept with joy death and the pains I shall have 
to suffer till my last breath ; give me strength to 
bear them with perfect conformity to thy will. I 
offer them all to thy glory, uniting them with the 



376 ACTS TO BE MADE AT DEATH. 

pains which thou didst endure in thy passion. Eter- 
nal Father, I sacrifice to thee my life and my en- 
tire being. I entreat thee to accept this my sacri- 
fice, through the merits of the great sacrifice of 
himself, which Jesus, thy Son, didst offer to thee 
on the cross. 

O mother of God, O my mother Mary, thou hast 
obtained for me so many graces during life. I thank 
thee with all the affections of my heart. Ah, do 
not abandon me at the hour of my death, when I 
stand in greater need of thy prayers. Pray to 
Jesus for me ; multiply prayers, and obtain for me 
greater sorrow for my sins and greater love for God, 
that I may go into thy company to love him forever 
and with all my strength. In thee, O lady, have I 
hoped ; let me not be confounded forever. O 
Mary, my hope after Jesus, in thee I trust. 



ACTS TO BE MADE AT DEATH. 



To St. Ludovina it was revealed by an angel, that 
the crown of merits and glory which awaited her, 
should be completed only by the sufferings she was 
to endure during the last days of life. The same 
happens to so many holy souls that depart from this 
world. It is certain that all good acts, and par- 
ticularly acts of resignation, in accepting death 
through a motive of pleasing God, are very merito- 
rious for all who die in the grace of God. I sub- 
join the acts, which may be very acceptable to God 
at the hour of death. 

My God, I offer to thee my life, and I am ready 
to die at any time that is pleasing to thy will. 



ACTS TO BE MADE AT DEATH. 377 

" Thy will be done *' forever ; " thy will be done " 
forever. 

Lord, if thou wishest to leave me a little longer 
in this world, blessed be thy name ; but I do not 
wish for life, unless I am to spend it all in loving 
and pleasing thee. I embrace death in order to do 
thy will, and I repeat. Thy ivill he done; thy will 
he done. I only ask thee to assist me during all 
the days of my life. " Have mercy on me^ O God, 
according to thy great mercyT If, then, thou 
wishest me to quit this earth, I protest that I desire 
to die, because it is thy will that I should die. 

And I wish to die, that, by the anguish and pains 
of my death, I may atone to the divine justice for 
the many sins by which I have offended thee and 
deserved hell. 

I wish also to die, that I may cease forever to 
offend and displease thee in this life. 

I wish moreover to die in testimony of the thanks 
which I owe thee for so many benefits bestowed 
upon me, and for so much love shown to me in 
spite of my demerits. 

I wish to die, to show that I love thy will more 
than my life. 

I wish (if it is pleasing to thee) to die now, that 
I. hope to be in the state of grace, in order to be 
secure of praising and blessing thee for eternity. 

I wish, above all, to die, in order to go to love 
thee forever and with all my strength in heaven, 
where, through thy blood, I hope to arrive, and to 
be secure of never more ceasing to love thee for all 
eternity. My Jesus, thou hast accepted the death 
of the cross for love of me ; I accept death, and all 
the pains which await me, for the love of thee; 
and I say to thee, with St. Francis, ** May I die, 
32* 



378 ACTS TO BE MADE AT DEATH. 

Lord, for the love of the love of thee, who con- 
descended to die for the love of the love of me.'* 

I pray thee, O my Savior, my love, and my only 
good, through thy holy wounds and thy painful 
death, to make me die in thy grace and in thy love. 
Thou hast purchased me with thy blood; do not 
suffer me to be lost. Most sweet Jesus, do not 
permit me to be separated from thee ; do not per- 
mit me to be separated from thee. 

Lord, do not banish me from thy presence. 
" Cast me not away from thy face." I confess that, 
by my sins, I have deserved hell ; but I am sorry 
for them above all things, and I hope to attain 
heaven, to praise for eternity the great mercies 
thou hast shown me. 

I adcre thee, O my God, who hast created me. 

1 believe in thee, O eternal truth. I hope in thee, 
O infinite mercy. 1 love thee, O sovereign good- 
ness, I love thee above all things ; I love thee more 
than myself, because thou dost deserve to be loved; 
and, because I love thee, I am sorry with my whole 
soul for having despised thy grace. I promise to 
suffer every death, and a thousand deaths, rather 
than ever more offend thee. 

O Jesus, Son of God, who hast died for me, have 
mercy on me. My Savior, save me, and let my 
salvation consist in loving thee for eternity. Moth- 
er of God, Mary, pray to Jesus for me. This is 
the time in which thou canst assist me. ** Mary^ 
mother of gracCy mother of jaercy^ protect us from 
the enemy y and receive us at the hour of death. 
We fly to thy protection, O holy mother of God. 
Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners:' 

Holy St. Joseph, my father, assist me at that 
hour. Holy St. Michael, deliver me from the dev- 
ils v/hich lie in wait for my soul. My holy advo- 



( 



SIGHS AFTER THE LAND OF BLISS. 379 

cates, and all you holy saints in heaven, pray to 
God for me. 

And you, my crucified Jesus, at my last mo- 
ments, receive my soul into thy arms ; to thee I 
recommend it ; remember that thou hast redeemed 
it with thy blood. My crucified Jesus, my love and 
my hope, whether I live or die, I protest that I 
wish for thee, and for nothing else. 3Iy God and 
my all. And what can I desire but thee 1 '* For 
what have I in heaven 1 and, besides thee, what do 
I desire upon earth ? " — Ps. Ixxii. Thou art the 
love of my heart ; thou art all my riches. 

To thee, then, who hast redeemed me by thy 
death, I recommend my soul, ** Into thy hands I 
commend my spirit ; thou hast redeemed me, O 
Lord, the God of truth." Trusting in thy mercies, 
I say, ** In thee, O Lord, have I hoped ; let me 
never be confounded." 

O Mary, thou art our hope. To thee also I say, 
fn thee, O lady, have I hoped; may I not be con- 
founded forever. 



SIGHS AFTER THE LAND OF BLISS. 

Happy the man who is saved, and, quitting this 
land of exile, enters into the heavenly Jerusalem, to 
enjoy that day which shall be an everlasting day — 
a day always joyful, free from all trouble, from all 
fear of any failure of its immense felicity. 

Jacob said, *' The days of my pilgrimage are a 
hundred and thirty years, few and evil, and they 
are not come up to the days of the pilgrimage of 
my fathers." — Gen. xlvii. 9. We miserable pil- 



380 SIGHS AFTER THE LAND OF BLISS. 

grims have to say the same ; for we have on this 
earth to suffer the toils of our exile, afflicted by 
temptations, troubled by passions, tormented by 
miseries, and still more by the dangers of eternal 
salvation. All these should make us feel that this 
is not our country, but a place of exile, in which 
God keeps us, to merit, by sufferings, the happiness 
of entering one day into the land of bliss. 

Thus we should always live detached from the 
world, and always sigh after paradise, saying, 
When, O Lord, shall I see myself delivered from 
so many straits? When shall I think only of loving 
and praising thee ? When shall the day arrive, on 
which, according to the words of the apostle, — 
*' you shall be my all in all things"? — 1 Cor. xv. 
28. When shall I enjoy that unchangeable peace, 
free from all affliction, and from all danger of losing 
my soul ? When, O my God, shall I see myself 
absorbed in thee by admiring thy infinite beauty 
unveiled, and face to face? When, in fine, shall I 
possess thee, O my Creator, in such a way that I 
may be able to say. My God, I can never again 
lose thee? 

O my Lord, thou dost see me exiled and afflicted 
in this land of enemies, where I am engaged in 
continual interior battles ; assist me by thy grace, 
and console me in this painful pilgrimage. I 
already see that, much as the world presents to me, 
it can never give me peace and happiness ; but, if 
thy aid be wanting, I fear that earthly pleasures 
and corrupt inclinations may drag me into some 
precipice. 

Seeing myself exiled in this valley of tears, I 
would wish at least to think always of thee, O my 
God, and to exult in that infinite joy which thou 
dost possess ; but the evil desires of sensual pleas- 



SIGHS AFTER THE LAND OF BLISS. 381 

ures frequently cry out within me, and disturb ray 
soul. I would wish to have my affections always 
employed in loving and thanking thee; but the 
flesh draws me to sensual delights. Hence I am 
forced to cry out with St. Paul, ** Unhappy mai> 
that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of 
this death?" — Rom. vii. 24. Unhappy me, who 
have to combat unceasingly not only with external 
enemies, but also with myself. Hence I am be- 
come burdensome and troublesome to myself — 
Job vii. 20. 

Who, then, shall deliver me from the body of this 
death ; that is, from the danger of falling into sin ? 
The bare fear of this danger is to me a continual 
death, which torments me, and will not cease to tor- 
ment me during my whole life. " O God, be not 
thou far from me; O my God, make haste to help 
me." — Ps. Ixx. 12. My God, do not withdraw 
from me ; for, if thou dost withdraw, I tremble 
lest I may offend thee. Draw still nearer to me by 
thy powerful aid ; that is, assist me always, that I 
may be able to repel the attacks of my adversaries. 
The royal prophet tells me that thou art at hand ; 
that is, that thou givest holy patience to all who 
are troubled in heart, or interiorly afflicted. — Ps. 
xxxiii. 19. Remain, then, near to me, O my be- 
loved Lord, and give me the patience which is ne- 
cessary to overcome the many difficulties that en- 
compass me. 

How often, when I begin to pray, do importunate 
thoughts draw away my attention, and distract me 
with a thousand trifles ! Give me strength to dis- 
miss them when I converse with thee, and to cruci- 
fy all the evil inclinations which hinder me to unite 
myself with thee ; and take away, I entreat thee, 
the great repugnance which I feel in embracing 



382 ON THE SCIENCE OF THE SAINTS. 

with peace every thing which is not pleasing to self- 
love. 

O house of my God, prepared for those who love 
thee, after thee do I sigh from this land of miseries. 
'* I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost ; seek 
thy servant." — Ps. cxviii. 176. O my beloved 
Pastor, who hast come down from heaven to seek 
after and save the lost sheep, behold, I am one of 
them that have miserably lost my soul by turning 
my back on thee. Seek thy servant, O Lord, 
seek after me ; do not abandon me, as I deserve ; 
seek me, and save me ; take me, and bind me so 
fast on thy shoulders, that I may never more for- 
sake thee. 

At the same time that I desire heaven, the ene- 
my terrifies me by the remembrance of my sins; 
but the sight of thee, my crucified Jesus, consoles 
me, and encourages me to hope that I shall one day 
go to love thee face to face in thy blessed kingdom. 
Queen of paradise, continue to advocate my cause. 
Through the blood of Jesus Christ, and through thy 
intercession, I have a firm hope of being saved. 



ON THE SCIENCE OF THE SAINTS. 



There are two sorts of science on this earth ; 
the one heavenly, the other worldly. The heavenly 
science is that which teaches us to please God, and 
to become great in heaven. Worldly science is 
that which impels us to please ourselves, and to ac- 
quire earthly greatness. But this science is true 
folly in the eyes of God. *' The wisdom of this 



ON THE SCIENCE OF THE SAINTS. 383 

world," says the apostle, ** is foolishness with God." 
— 1 Cor. iii. 19. It is folly, because it renders 
foolish all who cultivate it ; it renders them foolish, 
and assimilates them to beasts, because it teaches 
them to indulge, like beasts, their sensual appetites, 
** Hominem ilium dicimus," says St. John Chrysos- 
tom, **qui imaginem hominis salvam retinet. Q,uod 
autem imago hominis ? Rationalem esse." To 
retain the image of man, we must be rational; 
that is, we must act according to the dictates of 
reason. Hence, as we say that a beast, were it to 
act according to reason, should act like a man, so, 
on the other hand, a man who always obeys the 
sensual appetites, in opposition to reason, must be 
said to act like a beast. 

But how limited is the knowledge of men even 
concerning the things of this earth, how limited 
their knowledge of nature, after all the time they 
have devoted to the study of natural science ! 
What are we but so many blind moles, who, except 
the truth we know by faith, have only a conjectural, 
uncertain, and fallible knowledge of what we learn 
by means of the senses ! What writer on natural 
science, how much soever he may have been ap- 
plauded by some, has escaped the censure of all 
others? But the evil is, that worldly science makes 
us proud and haughty, and prone to despise others. 
This pride is pernicious to the soul ; for St. James 
says that God refuses his graces to the proud, and 
dispenses them to the humble. '' God resisteth the 
proud, and giveth grace to the humble." — iv. 6. 

'' O that they would be wise and understand, 
and would provide for their last end." — ' Deut. xxxii. 
29. O, if men acted according to reason and the 
divine law, and thus knew how to provide rather for 
eternity than for their temporal life, which soon 



384 ON THE SCIENCE OF THE SAINTS. 

ends, their time should certainly not be spent in 
acquiring any other knowledge than that which 
helps us to attain eternal happiness, and to avoid 
eternal torments. 

St. Chrysostom exhorts us to go to the sepulchres 
of the dead, in order to learn the science of sal- 
vation. ** Proficiscamur ad sepulchra." O, what 
beautiful schools of truth are the sepulchres of the 
dead ! How clearly do they teach us the vanity of 
the world 1 " Let us," says the saint, ** go to the 
sepulchres ; there I see nothing but rottenness, 
bones, and worms." Among these skeletons which 
I behold, I am unable to discern the ignorant peas- 
ant from the man of learning : I only see that for 
all, death has put an end to all the glory of this 
world. What is there now remaining of a Cicero, a 
Demosthenes, an Ulpian ? " They have slept their 
sleep, and .... have found nothing in their hands." 
- — Ps. Ixxv. 6. 

Happy the man who receives from God the 
science of the saints ! — Wisd. x. 10. The science 
of the saints consists in knowing how to love God. 
How many are there in the world who are well 
versed in the belles lettres, in mathematics, in the 
modern and ancient languages ! But what will this 
knowledge profit them if they know not how to love 
God? Happy he, says St. Augustine, who, though 
ignorant of other things^ knows how to love God. 
He who know's God, and loves him, though he be 
ignorant of the science with which others are ac- 
quainted, shall be more honored than all the men of 
learning who know not how to love God. 

**The unlearned," exclaimed the same St. 
Augustine, " rise up, and bear away heaven." O, 
how learned were St. Francis of Assisium, St. 
Paschal, St. John of God! they were indeed unac- 



ON THE SCIENCE OF THE SAINTS. 385 

quainted with worldly science, but were well versed 
in the knowledge of God. *' Thou hast hid these 
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed 
them to little ones." — Matt, xi, 25. By the wise 
are understood worldlings, who seek after worldly 
wealth and glory, and disregard the goods of eter- 
nity. And by the little ones, Jesus Christ means 
the simple, who, like children, are but little ac- 
quainted with worldly wisdom, and care only to 
please God, 

Ah, let us not envy men who know many things; 
let us envy those only who know how to love Jesus 
Christ ; and let us imitate St. Paul, who declared 
that he wished to know nothing but Jesus Christ, 
and Jesus crucified. ** I judged myself not to know 
any thing among you but Jesus Christ, and him 
crucified." — 1 Cor. ii. 2. Happy we, if we attain 
a knowledge of the love which Jesus crucified has 
borne us, and if, from this book of divine love, we 
learn to love him. 

O my true and perfect Lover, where shall I find 
one who has loved me as much as thou hast loved 
me? Hitherto, I have lost my time in learning 
many things which have been altogether unprofita- 
ble to my soul ; and I have thought but little of lov- 
ing thee. I see that my life has been misspent. I 
hear thee calling me to thy love; behold me; I re- 
nounce all things ; henceforth my only thought 
shall be to please thee, my Sovereign Good. I give 
myself entirely to thee ; accept me ; assist me to be 
faithful to thee ; I wish to be no longer mine, but 
all, all, all yours. O mother of God, assist me by 
your prayers.* 

* Permit me here to express the great consolation which I 
deriyed a few days since from information connected with the 
subject of the preceding considerations — the scienjce of the 
33 



386 MOTIVES AND AFFECTIONS 

MOTIVES AND AFFECTIONS TO BE 
SUGGESTED TO THE DYING. 

Taken from St. LigtiorVs Instructions for assisting the Dying, 

The motives of confidence are — first, the in- 
finite mercy of God, who is called the leather of 

mercies. — 2 Cor. i. 3 Secondly, the passion 

of Jesus Christ, who has declared that he came to 

s^ve sinners Thirdly, the promises of God to 

give his grace to all who ask it, whether they be 

saints or sinners Fourthly, the intercession of 

the saints, and particularly of the divine mother, 
whom God wishes that we, along with the holy 

eaints. I have been assured that, after having received so 
much applause from all Europe for his poetic compositions, 
which are as noxious as they are beautiful, (I mean those only 
which treat of profane love,) for the more tender his expres- 
sions, the more they are calculated to kindle in the breasts of 
young persons the pernicious flames of impure affections, the 
celebrated Signore Peter Metastasio has published a little book 
in prose, in which he expresses his detestation of his writings 
on profane love, and declares that, were it in his power, he 
would retract them and make them disappear from the world, 
even at the cost of his blood. And I am informed that his 
poetic compositions are now confined to some pieces on moral 
or spiritual subjects, which he writes in order to comply with 
his obligation as poet to the imperial court. He lives retired 
in his own house, leading a life of prayer. This information 
has given me unspeakable consolation ; because his public 
declaration and his most laudable example will help to unde- 
ceive many young persons who seek to acquire a great name 
by similar compositions on profane love. It is certain that, by 
his retraction, Signore Metastasio has deserved more encomiums 
than he would by the publication of a thousand poetic works ; 
for these he might be praised by men, but now he is praised by 
God. Hence, as I formerly detested his vanity in prizing him- 
self for such compositions, (I do not speak of his sacred pieces, 
which are excellent and deserving of all praise,) so now 1 shall 
never cease to praise him ; and were I permitted, I would kiss 
his feet, seeing that he has voluntarily become the censor of 
his own works, and that he now desires so see them banished 
from the whole world, at the expense, as^ he says, even of his 
own blood. 



TO BE SUGGESTED TO THE DYING. 387 

church, salute, as our refuge, our life, and our 
hope. 

The following passages of the Holy Scriptures may 
be added : ** No one hath hoped in the Lord and 
hath been confoundedT — Eccl.ii. 11. No one has 
placed his hope in God and has been abandoned by 
him. *' He is the propitiation for our sins.^' — 1 
John ii. 2. Jesus Christ has died in order to 
obtain pardon for us. " He hath delivered him up 
for us all ; how hath he not also with him given us 
all things ? " — Rom. viii. 32, How shall that God 
who has given us his Son, refuse us pardon ? 

I. — Affections of Confidence. 

" The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom 
shall I fear?" — Ps. xxvi. 1. ** Into thy hands, O 
Lord, I commend my spirit; thou hast redeemed 
me, O Lord, the God of truth." — Ps. xxx. 

*' We therefore beseech thee, assist thy servants, 
whom thou hast redeemed with thy blood." 

" In thee, O Lord, have I hoped ; may I not be 
confounded forever." 

''O good Jesus, hide me within thy wounds." 
'* Thy wounds are my merits." — St. Bernard. 

My Jesus, thou wilt not refuse me the pardon of 
my sins, since thou hast not refused me thy blood. 

Passion of Jesus, you are my hope 

Merits of Jesus, you are my hope. 

Wounds of Jesus, you are my hope. 

" The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever." 

Mary, my mother, thou hast to obtain salvation 
for me ; have pity on me. 

Hail, holy queen, our sweetness and our hope, haiL 

Holy Mary, pray for me, a sinner. 

Refuge of sinners, pray for me. 

We fly to thy patronage, O holy mother of God. 

Mary, mother of God, pray to Jesus for ma 



388 MOTIVES AND AFFECTIONS 



II. — Affections of Contrition. 

St. Augustine says that every Christian should 
continue till death to bewail his sins. 

** Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O 
Lord." — Ps. cxlii. 2. 

My Jesus and ray Judge, pardon me before thou 
dost judge me. 

" An humble and contrite heart, O Lord, thou 
wilt not despise." 

O, my God, that I had never offended thee ! 
Thou didst not deserve to be treated as I have 
treated thee.^ 

I am sorry with my whole heart, and above all 
things, for having offended thee. 

Father, I am not worthy to he called thy Son. I 
have turned my back upon thee ; I have despised 
thy grace; I have voluntarily lost thee. Pardon 
me for the love and for the blood of Jesus Christ ; 
I repent with my whole heart. 

Accursed sins, that have deprived me of God, I 
detest thee, I abhor thee, I curse thee. 

My God, what evil hast thou done me that I 
should have so grievously offended thee ? For the 
love of Jesus, have pity on me. 

Never more, O Lord, will I offend thee. I wish, 
O my God, to love thee during the remainder of 
my life, whether it be long or short. 

In satisfaction for the offences which I have of- 
fered to thee, I offer thee my death, and the pains 
which I shall suffer till death. 

Lord, thou hast reason to chastise me; I have 
sinned grievously against thee ; but I entreat thee 
to chastise me here, and not hereafter. 

O Mary, obtain for me a true sorrow for my sins, 
pardon and perseverance. 



TO BE SUGGESTED TO THE DYING. 389 

III. — Affections op Love. 

My God, because thou art infinite goodness and 
worthy of infinite love, I love thee above all things; 
1 love thee more than myself; I love thee with my 
whole heart. 

My God, I do not deserve to love thee, because I 
have offended thee ; but for the love of Jesus Christ, 
make me love thee, 

I would wish to see thee loved by all men. 

I rejoice in thy infinite happiness. 

My Jesus, I wish to suifer and to die for thee, 
who hast suffered so much, and hast d^ed for me. 

Chastise me, O Lord, as thou wishest, but do not 
deprive me of the power of loving thee. 

My God, save me; my salvation consists in loving 
thee. 

I desire paradise, in order to love thee for eter- 
nity, and with all my strength. 

My God, do not send me to hell, as I deserve; 
there 1 should have to hate thee, but I cannot bear 
to hate thee. Whit evil hast thou done me, O 
Lord, that I should h^.ve to hate thee? Make me 
love thee, and then send me where thou pleasest. 

I wish to suffer as much as thou pleasest; I wish 
to die in order to please thee. 

Bind me, O Jesus, to thee ; do not permit me to 
be ever separated from thee. 

O my God, make me all thine before I die. 

When shall I be able to say, My God, I can never 
lose thee ? 

O God, I would wish to love thee as much as thou 
deservest. 

O Mary, obtain for me the grace to belong en- 
tirely to God. 

My mother, I love thee ardently. I wish to go to 
love thee forever in paradise. 
33*^ 



390 MOTIVES AND AFFECTIONS 

IV. — Motives to Resignation. 

All our good and our life consists in conformity 
to the will of God. *' Life in his good will." — Ps; 
xxix. 6. God wishes what is most conducive to our 
w^elfare. Jesus Christ appeared to St. Gertrude, 
and offered her life or death. She answered, I wish ^ 

Lord, what thou wishest. The Redeemer also 
appeared to St. Catharine of Sienna, with a crown 
of jewels, and a crown of thorns, that she might 
choose between them. Her answer was, I make 
choice of that which thou wishest me to cJioose. 

Affections. 

O brother N., if God calls you to another life, are 
you not content? Yes. Say then, continually, 
Lord, here I am ; do with me what thou pleasest. 
Thy will be always done ; I wish only what thou 
wishest. I wish to suffer as much as thou pleasest* 

1 wish to die when thou pleasest. 

In thy hands I place my soul and body, my life 
and death. / will bless the Lord at all times. 
Whether thou dost console or afflict me, I love 
thee, O my Lord, and I wish to love thee always. 

O eternal Father, I unite my death with the 
death of Jesus Christ ; and, in union with his 
death, I offer it to thee. 

O will of God, thou art my love. 

O pleasure of my God, to thee I sacrifice my 
whole being. 

V. ^ — Motives to desire Paradise. 

Blosius relates (Mon. Spir. c. 13) several reve- 
lations, in vvhich it is said that some souls in purga? 
tory suffer a particular pain, (called the pain of de- 
sire or of languor,) in punishment of the tepidity 
with which they desired heaven. This life is a pris- 



TO BE SUGGESTED TO THE DYING. 391 

on, in which we cannot see God. Hence David 
prayed, '* Bring my soul out of prison,'' (Ps. clxi 
8;) and St. Augustine exclaimed, " O Lord, may 
I die in order to see thee." St. Jerome called death 
his sister, and said. My sister y open to me. Yes ; 
for it is death that opens paradise. Hence St. 
Charles Borromeo, seeing death painted with a 
knife in the hand, ordered the painter to cancel the 
knife, and to substitute for it a key of gold — as 
the key of heaven. 4 

It will be useful, then, to the dying to think of- 
ten on the goods of paradise ; repeating the words 
of St. Paul — ** Neither eye hath seen, nor ear 
heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, 
what things God hath prepared for them that love 
him." — 1 Cor. ii. 9. 

Affections. 

" When shall I come and appear before the face 
of God ? " — Ps. xli. 3. When, O my God, shall I 
see thy infinite beauty, and love thee face to face ? 
I will love thee always in he^Ten — thou wilt al- 
ways love me ; we shall then love each other for 
eternity — O my God, my love, my all. O my Je- 
sus, when shall I kiss the wounds which thou didst 
suffer for my sake? O Mary, >vhen shall I see my- 
self at the feet of that mother who has loved me so 
tenderly, and assisted me so frequently? 

" Turn, then, O most gracious advocate, thine 
eyes of mercy towards us ; and, after this our exile, 
show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb — Jesus." 

VI. — Affections to be suggested to the dying 
Christian when the Crucifix is given him 
that he may kiss it. 
My Jesus, look not on my sins, bat on what thou 

bast suffered for me. 



392 MOTIVES AND AFFECTIONS 

Remember that I am one of the sheep for which 
thou hast died. 

I am willing, O my Jesus, to be consumed for 
the love of thee, who hast been consumed for the 
love of me. 

Thou hast given thyself entirely to me ; I give 
myself entirely to thee. 

O Lord, thou, an innocent, hast suffered for me, 
more than I, a sinner, suffer. 

My brother, kiss these feet which have been 
wearied in seeking after you, in order to save you. 
Say, my dear Redeemer, I embrace thy feet, as 
Magdalene did; make me feel that thou hast par- 
doned me. 

My God, for the love of Jesus Christ, pardon me; 
and grant me a happy death. 

Eternal Father, thou hast given me thy Son ; I 
give myself to thee. 

My Jesus, I have repaid thee with ingratitude; 
have mercy on me ; I have deserved hell so often ; 
chastise me here, and not hereafter. 

Thou didst not abandon me when I forsook thee ; 
do not abandon me now that I seek thee. 

Most sweet Jesus, do not permit me to be sepa- 
rated from thee. 

'' Who shall separate me from the love of 
Christ ? " 

O Lord Jesus Christ, through the agony which 
thy most noble soul suffered when it went forth 
from thy most blessed body, have mercy on my sin- 
ful soul when it shall depart from my body. 
Amen. 

My Jesus, thou hast died for the love of me ; I 
wish to die for the love of thee. 



4 



TO BE SUGGESTED TO THE DYING. 393 



VII. — Affections to be suggested to Religious 
AND Priests at Death. 

" In peace, in the self-same, I will sleep and I 
will rest.'' 

My God and my all. O, happy me, if I lose all 
things to gain thee, O my Sovereign Good. 

" Into thy hands I commend my spirit." 

" Cast me not away from thy face.'' 

Most sweet Jesus, do not permit me to be sepa- 
rated from thee. 

May I die for the love of thee, who died for the 
love of me. 

** A contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou 
wilt not despise." 

"In thee, O Lord, have I hoped; may I not be 
confounded forever." 

I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. 

Ah ! Lord, may I die in order to see thee. 

What have I in heaven, and besides thee what do 
I desire on earth ? 

Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that 
is my portion forever. 

The Lord is my light and my salvation ; whom 
shall I fear ? 

Father, I have sinned ; I am not worthy to be 
called thy child. 

Turn away thy face from my sins. 

I am thine ; save me. 

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? 

Give me thy love along with thy grace, and I am 
sufficiently rich. 

My beloved to me and I to him. 

The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever. 

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, 
now and at the hour of our death. 



394 MOTIVES AND AFFECTIONS 

Hail, holy queen, our life, our sweetness, and 
our hope. 

Refuge of sinners, pray for us. 

Mary, mother of grace, mother of mercy, defend 
us against the enemy, and receive us at the hour of 
death. 

O salvation of them who invoke thee. 

VIII. — Affections to be suggested during the 
Last Agony. 

my God, I believe in thee, the infallible 
Truth ; I hope in thee, O infinite Mercy ; I love 
thee, O infinite Goodness. What have I in heaven, 
and besides thee what do I desire on earth ? 

Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that 
is my portion forever. 

May I die for the love of thee, who died for the 
love of me. 

In peace, in the self-same, I will sleep and I 
will rest. 

My God, do not suffer me to be lost. 

1 wish for nothing but thee, O infinite Goodness; 
I love thee, I love thee, I love thee. 

[Let it be here observed, that for persons in their 
agony, the acts to be most frequently suggested are 
acts of love and of contrition.] 

My Jesus, in a few moments thou shalt be my 
Judge ; pardon me ; I love thee, and because I love 
thee I am sorry for having offended thee. 

Most sweet Jesus, do not permit me to be sepa- 
rated from thee. ^ 

Blood of Jesus, wash me. Passion of Jesus, save 
me. 

Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit 

May I die, O Lord, in order to see thee. 

Mary, my mother, pray to Jesus for me. 



TO BE SUGGESTED TO THE DYING. 395 

Turn thine eyes of mercy towards us, and, aft^r 
this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy 
womb — Jesus. 

O Mary, now is the time to help thy servant. 

My mother, do not abandon me. 

Land of beauty, land of love, when shall I see 
thee ? 

O my God, when shall I love thee face to face? 

my Jesus, when shall I see thee, secure of nev- 
er being able to lose thee ? 

My God and my all. 

1 am willing to lose all things in order to gain 
tnee, O my God. 

O my God, for the love of Jesus, have mercy on me. 

O Lord, send me to purgatory as long as thou 
pleasest, but do not condemn me to hell, where I 
could never love thee. 

** We therefore beseech thee, O Lord, assist thy 
servants, whom thou hast redeemed with thy pre- 
cious blood." 

eternal God, I wish and hope to love thee for 
eternity. 

My Love is crucified. My Jesus and my Lov€ 
has died for me. 

Incline unto my aid, O God ; O Lord, make haste 
to help me. 

Eternal Father, for the love of Jesus Christ, give 
me thy grace. 

1 love thee, I repent, &/C. 

How can I thank thee, O my God, for all the 
graces thou hast bestowed upon me ? I hope to go 
to heaven to thank thee for eternity. 

Mary, Mother of Grace, Mother of Mercy, defend 
us against the enemy, and receive us at the hour of 
our death. 



V 




396 MOTIVES AND AFFECTIONSj &C. 

Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great 
mercy, &;C. 

The mercies of the Lord I will sing forever. 

IX. — When the Sick Man is about to expire. 

Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. 
My Jesus, I recommend to thee this soul, which 
thou hast purchased with thy blood. 

[Observe that when the dying man is near his 
last moment, the acts should be suggested without 
pausing, and in a louder voice.] 

O Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit. 

My God, assist me, permit me to go to love thee 
for eternity. 

My Jesus, my Love, 1 love thee, I repent, &c. 
O that I had never offended thee ! 

Mary, my hope, assist me ; pray to Jesus for me. 

Through thy passion, save me, O my Jesus ; I 
love thee. 

Mary, my mother, assist me at this moment. St. 
Joseph, come to my aid. St. Michael, the archan- 
gel, defend me. My angel-guardian, assist me. 
My holy patron, N., [here mention the principal 
*6cate of the dying man,] recommend me to 
Jesus Christ. All ye saints of heaven, pray to God 
for me. 

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. 

Jesus and Mary, to thee I give my heart and my 
soul. 



II 



\ 



A 



Deacidiiied using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Feb. 2006 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16065 



